The surroundings of Radcliffe Borough are a far cry from the glamour of the Premiership, but Hebburn midfielder Jamie McClen is relishing the challenge of helping his side into the final qualifying round on Saturday.

The 32 year old was on target for his first club Newcastle, in the 4-2 win at Peterborough in the fourth round of season 2001-02 -- Darlington fans will remember the game, as Quakers lost to Peterborough in the third round when they knew that Newcastle , with Bobby Robson in charge, were awaiting the winners.

On that day, McClen played in the same team as Alan Shearer, Shay Given , Craig Bellamy and Nobby Solano, and he also played in the 1-0 win over Manchester City in the fifth round, and the 0-0 quarter final against Arsenal in front of 51,000 at St James Park, but not in the replay.

Today, he’ll be swopping the surroundings of London Road in Peterborough for the more down-to-earth atmosphere of Stainton Park in Radcliffe, where Bernard Manning Junior is the president.

“It was a great feeling to score in the Peterborough game, because it helped to put us through into the last sixteen of the FA Cup that season,” he said.

“ It was a really good game – I remember that when Peterborough scored, their manager Barry Fry ran along the touchline celebrating. The game needs characters like him.”

Since then, McClen’s football journey has taken him to several clubs – one of them in Thailand -- and now he has his sights on progressing a little closer to the competition proper.

“It’s a big day for the club, because it’s never been this far in the FA Cup before. We’re going to Radcliffe as underdogs, but the good things is, we’ve got nothing to lose. No doubt, our management team will have done their homework on Radcliffe and tell us about their weaknesses.

“They haven’t had a good start to the season, and there are players in our team who have played at a higher level than the Northern League and can rise to the occasion. Stuart Nicholson, for example, has played in the Premiership as well.

“We’ve got a great team spirit which will be a big help. When I was at Blyth, we didn’t have the greatest of teams, but the team spirit was fantastic, and everybody got stuck in together.

“And that’s what we’ll be taking into the game. We all want to reach the last qualifying round.”

Radcliffe Borough are currently third from bottom in the Evostik First Division North, and have yet to win any of their four home league games.