Missed opportunities will drive two Cooma Tigers to fight for FFA Cup victory when they step on to the national stage on Wednesday night.
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But Mark Shields and Jakob Cole say winning momentum is the reason why the Tigers can advance to the next stage of the knockout competition.
The Tigers will play against a Hume City side boasting up to six ex-A-League players at Deakin in the round of 32 stage of the Australia-wide tournament.
It's a moment years in the making for 34-year-old Shields, who has twice changed clubs in the past only to watch his former teammates get their FFA Cup chance the following season.
Goal-keeper Cole had a taste of the FFA Cup when he was playing for Hobart Olympic two years ago, but suffered a 5-1 defeat.
"For me, this rates pretty highly. Two of the [Canberra] teams who have played in the FFA Cup, I was part of their squad the year before they qualified," Shields said.
"So I'm really excited. I've been around the Canberra league for a while and this is one of those things I'd like to put on the list before I retire.
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"The reason I came to Tigers was because [coach Gaby Wilk] brought me over here and I really wanted to rejuvenate my career.
"This has given me a great opportunity in my third year here to rise back to where I believe I can be."
Striker Shields has scored 10 goals this season to help the Tigers to a near perfect Canberra premier league campaign with just three weeks left in the regular season.
His role will be even more important against Hume City after the departure of goal-scoring star Nico Abot, who has moved his career to Thailand.
The Tigers have lost just one game so far this season, but Cole said that defeat last month served as a timely reminder for the FFA Cup challenge.
Cole conceded the FFA Cup was a leap to a higher level, but the team is drawing comfort from a pre-season spent in Argentina.
The Tigers spent almost a month in South America playing and training against professionals, including a match in front of 4000 people.
"All [semi-professional] clubs in Australia want to be at this stage. I played a couple of years ago in the FFA Cup," Cole said.
"It's a big step up, but I think the boys are ready. Losing against Gungahlin was the best wake-up call for us.
"It brought us back down to earth and I think we're ready. Hopefully everyone gets behind us, more than half of the team is from Canberra and we'd love to see people come to support us."
The Tigers have shifted their game from Cooma to Canberra to meet broadcast requirements.
Hume City has several former professionals in their side and made the FFA Cup semi-finals four years ago before being stopped by the Melbourne Victory. "This is the stage we want to be on," Shields said.
FFA CUP ROUND OF 32
Wednesday: Cooma Tigers v Hume City at Deakin Stadium, 7.30pm.
Tigers FC (ACT) squad: 1.Mitchell KAYE (gk), 2.Nahuel GUERRERO, 3.Darren BAILEY, 4.Jared TONINI, 5.Jose DEFILIPPI, 6.Tony SPASESKI, 7.Hussain FUREJE, 8.Michael KITA, 9.Dimitrios PARASCOS, 10.Mark SHIELDS, 11.Goran JOSIFOVSKI, 12.Tony MADAFFARI, 13.Martin SANTOS GARCIA, 14.Domenick COLUCCIELLO, 15.Boyan TASESKI, 16.Laurence REDMOND, 17.Joshua MERKEL, 18.Michael GURNEY, 19.Nikolas BLASKOVIC, 20.Dylan TEIXEIRA, 21.Fabian OLIVARES, 22.Jakob COLE (gk)
Hume City FC (VIC) squad: 18.Benjamin BOWLER, 24.Umut BOZDUGAN, 8.James BROWN, 14.Mitch COOPER, 19.Marko DELIC, 5.Daniel DIXON, 10.Steven HEWITT, 9.George HOWARD, 20.James KAPURANOVSKI (gk), 13.Matthew LAZARIDES, 11.Theodore MARKELIS, 6.Harry MONOGHAN, 12.Mark OCHIENG, 15.Hayden TENNANT, 1.Michael WEIER (gk), 4.Paul WILSON, 16.Thomas HARRIS, 29.Birhan ELIBOL, 2.Mohammed ABBAS, 28.Ethan FINT, 27.Koray CEKIC, 3.Ali KALKAN