Greg Luer hopes he will catch the eye again when Burgess Hill travel to Sutton United bidding to produce an FA Cup upset.
Striker Luer earned a trial with Millwall on the strength of an impressive performance against Leatherhead last season and now has an even better chance to put himself in the shop window against a club that has its name etched in FA Cup folklore already.
Sutton famously ripped up the formbook in the 1988-89 season when as a semi-professional Conference side they knocked out top-flight Coventry City, who had won the competition just 18 months before.
Nineteen-year-old Luer was not even born when Sutton were grabbing the headlines but he feels confident Hillians can make some of their own against the Conference south side.
Luer, 19, said: “I am feeling quite good about the game. I don’t know too much about Sutton but I think if we play our best then we can get a result.”
Ian Chapman’s Hillians can afford to approach the tie with confidence as they are on a 12-game winning streak and lead Ryman south by ten points.
Luer has netted eight goals this term, including a brace in the last round against Fleet Town, but broke into the first team last season – after scoring twice in the FA Cup.
He said: “I did play quite a few times last season but I didn’t start the season.
“Then we had a game against VCD, which was my first game and I scored two. It started off there really.”
Luer’s performances earned him a regular place in Chapman’s squad and also led to Ian Holloway’s Millwall taking a look at him.
The former Hangleton Rangers and Hove Rivervale youngster said: “Towards the end of last season we played against Leatherhead and it was probably one of our best games of the season.
“Millwall had someone there watching who knew Chappers and they got hold of him and he let me go up there for a trial.
“I was there for about two weeks. I trained every day – morning and afternoons – as well as gym sessions, it was good. We then played a game.
“The first team squad were away in Portugal for pre-season for the first week so I was with the under-21s and then I went away on holiday and when I came back the rest of the team were there.
“After that I would train with the under-21s and then we would all be mixed in with the first team.”
The experience has only served to fuel his ambition to turn professional.
He added: “They (Millwall) said the footballing side to my game was not a problem and I would fit in there really well.
“But they are more physical than me so they have told me to work on that and when I am ready they will look at me again.
“I have got a gym membership and try to do a little bit to build myself up.”
And Luer believes a Cup run would not do his chances of being snapped up any harm either.
He said: “In the Cup it’s a chance of playing against bigger teams with more people watching. The further you go, the more likely you are to play up north and be seen by even more clubs.
“I played last season but I don’t think I played when we got to this stage so this is the furthest I have been in the competition.
“I have heard the FA Cup has changed from what it used to be but my dad enjoys the Cup and tells me about the history of it so I do enjoy playing in it.”
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