National League boss forced to ditch romantic getaway in bid to seal major FA Cup shock

Tamworth manager Andy Peaks hopes he can get back in his wife's good books by delivering an FA Cup shock over Huddersfield.

Peaks had to cancel a romantic getaway with his other half Sarah to prepare for his National League side's televised first-round tie with the League One club on Friday night.

The 53-year-old, who has taken the Lambs from the Southern Premier League to the National League in two seasons, still splits his time between his role at the non-league club and a part-time job as a support worker at a college.

And with it being half-term, Peaks had hoped to take his wife away to Bridgnorth, but the football has got in the way.

"It's half-term this week at college and much to my wife's disappointment, we were supposed to be going away Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday," he told the PA news agency.

"So I have had to cancel because football has taken over unfortunately. It has worked in a good way because I can give it a bit more attention than I normally would.

"We were going to go to Bridgnorth in the cottage, I was going to do a bit of fishing, a bit of walking and chilling. That is on the back burner, that can wait until another day.

"My wife will be here, she'll be 100 per cent behind me, she's been born and bred football when she met me. I'll make it up to her at some point and hopefully we can do it on Saturday after victory on Friday night."

Tamworth's rapid rise means the whole club is still run on a part-time basis, with Peaks the only manager in the National League not to work full-time.

He is looking to dedicate more time to his position at the Lambs Ground, but still finds his work at Tresham College in Kettering highly rewarding.

"I am a support worker at a college for children with high needs, aged 16 to 18," he added. "It is not great money, it's a learning support role, I go into classes and support and guide.

"A lot of them have had a bad upbringing or have a condition so they are high needs. It is very rewarding because a lot of those kids don't trust you as an adult when you go in, especially as a male support worker.

"But you start to win them over and they start to walk around the college looking for you and asking you for advice. It is a rewarding job and sometimes it is a good get-out from football."

The match against League One high-fliers Huddersfield on Friday is one of the toughest draws Tamworth could have had, but Peaks is dreaming of adding another chapter to his fairy-tale at the Staffordshire club.

"There is always a shock in the round and we are going to try and make it happen on Friday night," he said. "It would be the biggest achievement of my managerial career."