Marcelle happy to face Chelsea again

Scarborough will gingerly tread into the land of the giants when they face Chelsea in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, but at least one of their number has been there before.

Winger Clint Marcelle, a diminutive Trinidadian built for ballet rather than ball sports, spent a season in the Premiership with Barnsley in 1997-98 and came up against Chelsea at their imperious best.

Marcelle's history lesson may not be welcome in the Scarborough dressing room. On a balmy night in Barnsley seven years ago, Ruud Gullit's side put six goals past the Premiership newcomers and Marcelle is hoping to avoid a similar beating on Saturday.

He said: "I hope it's not an omen but it doesn't make a difference if we lose 1-0 or 5-0. We can only do our best and the FA Cup is all about enjoying your football. When I last played against Chelsea they had some big names like Gianfranco Zola and Gus Poyet but now they've got 25 international players. We lost 6-0 and Gianluca Vialli scored four goals himself. He was amazing.

"That was a good game for Chelsea but it was good for Barnsley as it was the start of our learning curve. We'd just come up from the First Division and Chelsea were our first real test. It showed and we learned from it. Saturday could be even tougher."

Barnsley's single season in the sun was also a career highlight for Marcelle, whose fortunes have progressively worsened since leaving Oakwell five years ago. The 35-year-old has fallen through the leagues with greater speed than he shows on the pitch, playing for Scunthorpe, Hull, Darlington, Harrogate and Stevenage before descending on Scarborough.

"Scarborough's not quite like Trinidad but at least there's a beach," he said. "The people are friendly and the fish and chips are great. Chelsea will be eating their pasta and salad but we're not going to change the way we prepare. I won't get another chance like this so I am going to enjoy it and grab it with both hands."

The Trinidad and Tobago international grew up with Dwight Yorke and Brian Lara in Port of Spain and is expecting to hear from them before Saturday. He said: "Dwight is always giving me advice and there's nothing new there. His success is an inspiration to me and it shows what you can achieve, no matter where you come from. Blackburn got a draw against Chelsea so maybe we can do the same."