LITTLE Holly Smith could become Accrington Stanley's youngest fan tomorrow.
The tot, who was only born last Thursday, is expected to be cheering on her dad and Stanley defender Jonathan Smith when the Reds take on Marine in the Peter Swailes Charity Shield.
"She's definitely going to be a Stanley fan and I'm hoping to take Holly to the game tomorrow," said Smith.
"It's been a brilliant season, both on and off the pitch with the birth of Holly, and it would be great to cap it by winning the Charity Shield for the second season.
"Everyone's still on a high after winning the UniBond Premier Division and promotion to the Conference, even though we didn't perform very well in the last two games and missed a lot of chances. But that's probably a long season taking its toll.
"We're defending the Shield after beating Burton last season and, with home advantage, we'll be confident of winning it again.
"And there's no reason why we shouldn't feel confident.
"We've beaten Marine both times we've played them this season. They've been on a good run of late, won the cup and shot up the table so we know it's not going to be straight forward.
"But everyone's looking to next season now. A lot of the lads are out of contract, including myself, and we'll be looking to impress in a bid to earn a new one."
The central defender who, along with goalkeeper Jamie Speare is one of Stanley's longest serving players, is hoping to thrash out a new deal with manager John Coleman in the next few weeks.
Tomorrow's game against Marine takes place at the Crown Ground, kick-off 3pm, when Coleman hopes to have a run-out.
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