They're the team of tradies, white-collar professionals and uni students taking on the best in the A-League, but that won't stop the Bentleigh Greens from believing they can conjure a football fairytale.
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Canberra product Luke Pilkington will be in the thick of the action as he steps away from his day job as a stockbroker to line up against Perth Glory in Tuesday night's FFA Cup semi-final in Melbourne.
A capacity crowd of up to 3500 is expected to pack Bentleigh's home ground at Kingston Heath in the biggest game in the history of the Victorian National Premier League club.
Pilkington will draw on his experience at the elite level, having played in both the A-League and the Asian Champions League with Melbourne Victory from 2009 to 2011.
The 24-year-old former ANU captain has spent the past three seasons with the Greens, who progressed to the final four after coming from a goal down to beat Adelaide City in the quarter-finals.
But they face their most difficult challenge thus far, taking on an in-form Glory side, which has flown out of the blocks with four wins from five games to be at the top of the A-League table.
The only disadvantage for the Glory is it has just over 48 hours to recover from Sunday's 1-0 victory against the Central Coast Mariners in Gosford.
Pilkington believes there is no reason why the Greens can't spring a major upset if they maintain the form that has got them this far.
"There's no doubt in our mind, we haven't changed our game plan since we entered this competition and getting the results we need," Pilkington said.
"Perth is coming off a heavy schedule at the moment and we can't see why we can't take it to them.
"The buzz around the club is huge at the moment and hopefully we can do something special."
Pilkington will work a half day on Tuesday before taking the afternoon off to prepare for the semi-final.
The FFA Cup has been a raging success in its inaugural season, pitting grassroots clubs against their professional cousins.
More than 5000 fans packed into Viking Park in Canberra to watch Tuggeranong United take on the Melbourne Victory in a round-of-16 tie in September.
The draw was set up so one state league club would qualify for the semi-finals.
The Glory has made a blistering start to the A-League, with Irish striker Andy Keogh and former Brisbane Roar and Victory midfielder Mitch Nichols among the stars at their new club.
Pilkington doesn't expect the Glory to be overly affected by its recent schedule.
"If any club comes off a game 48 hours prior they're going to be a bit lethargic, a bit sore, especially with the travel down from Sydney as well," Pilkington said.
"We're going to treat it as if they're coming off a two-week break.
"We're not reading anything into it because after all they do this as a living, so they're going to be pretty good at it."
In the other semi-final, Adelaide United hosts the Central Coast Mariners on Wednesday night.
FFA CUP: Bentleigh Greens v Perth Glory on Tuesday at Kingston Heath, 7.30pm. Live on Fox Sports.
