National League side AFC Fylde face a tough task against League One’s Wigan Athletic in the Emirates FA Cup this week – but the north-west outfit have an ace up their sleeve.

The club is managed by former Tranmere defender Dave Challinor, who was part of one of the great underdog cup teams of modern times.

In the 1999-00 season Challinor’s Tranmere beat a succession of Premier League sides to reach the sixth round proper of the Emirates FA Cup and also claimed a place in the League Cup Final, losing out to Leicester City 2-1.

The next season Challinor and his teammates put together another extraordinary Emirates FA Cup run, beating Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park and coming back from 3-0 down to beat Southampton 4-3 before finally losing to Liverpool in the sixth round proper.

Now having turned his hand to management, Challinor says he’ll draw on those experiences to aid Fylde’s cause.

“There are some similarities between the clubs and as manager you’re always going to take bits from dressing rooms you’ve been in,” said Challinor.

“If you’ve got any experiences you can use to help the players then you will do, but I also think just because it’s the FA Cup the players don’t need any extra motivation – it’s special and everyone knows that.

“We (Tranmere) had a really good dressing room but ours was a bit different, we had good cup runs in both competitions but we were struggling a little bit in the league and those runs got us through the season.”

Lancashire side Fylde are a relatively new club, founded in 1988 and originally known as Kirkham & Wesham, before adopting its name after winning the Buildbase FA Vase in 2008.

That Vase win was remarkable in itself, with the club winning the competition in their first ever year taking part, beating Lowestoft Town 2-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium thanks to two late goals from 17-year-old Matt Walwyn.

Challinor says there are still plenty of people around the club who have fond memories of that day.

“Obviously David (Haythornthwaite, chairman) and Dai (Davis, president) have been a big part of that but there’s others behind the scenes too, like our kitman Mick Baldwin,” Challinor added.

“Bob Davey our match secretary was around then too.

“Hopefully, probably similar to me they’ve seen the club rise from nothing to where it is now and they’ll feel really, really proud on Friday.”

Emirates FA Cup history This is the furthest Fylde have ever been in the Emirates FA Cup, but they have reached the first round proper three times, most recently losing 3-1 to Millwall in the 2015-16 season.

Wigan have of course gone all the way in the competition, winning the trophy in 2012-13 with a famous 1-0 win over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium thanks to a late Ben Watson header.

Did you know? Since 2007 Fylde have won promotion five times.

The Prize The winners of Friday night’s game will earn £27,000 and a place in the third round proper.