Boro striker talks about his comeback from injury as well as Wednesday’s trip to White Hart Lane

Stevenage striker Craig Reid is hoping to prove wrong those who think Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth round replay against Tottenham Hotspur is merely a formality.

Harry Redknapp’s team go into the match as massive favourites, but the former Newport County man insists his team-mates showed enough in the original tie and in previous big matches to suggest the replay will be anything but straightforward.

“More fool them,” Reid said of those who have written Boro off. “If that’s what they want to do then let them do it. We’ve beaten some big teams like Reading and Newcastle, and drawing with [Spurs] the first time just shows we can mix it with them and Wednesday will be another big test for us.

“It’s a great achievement by the club. We’ve been used to a lot of success, especially against bigger clubs, and hopefully Wednesday will just be another stepping stone and another story to tell.”

Reid is hoping to make the starting line-up in north London, and it would mark a big turnaround for the player who made his comeback from a three-month injury lay-off in last week’s 2-2 draw with Huddersfield. The 26-year-old hadn’t featured since Boro’s FA Cup first round win over Hartlepool United back in November, but Reid is now hoping to put that spell behind him and show his new manager Gary Smith what he is capable of.

“It has been tough, especially for the last three months,” he said. “Hopefully now it will be alright. The hernia has repaired itself and I’m feeling a lot fitter now.

“There were a couple of months where we couldn’t seem to work out what the problem was and I had to go and see a couple of specialists and we finally got down to the root of the problem and I had the operation.

“It’s frustrating especially when you’ve played all the games up until that point, and then you’re out for so long. You want to be playing in all the big games but you can’t and it was a horrible, horrible time for me but I’m glad it’s all over now.

“Being on the bench for the first game I was itching to get on but I think it might have been a little bit too early considering it would have been my first game back. But I’m definitely itching to get out on that pitch at White Hart Lane.”