CHRIS Todd believes playing on a “carpet” could be key to non-League Eastleigh pulling the rug from under Bolton Wanderers in tomorrow's (8pm) huge FA Cup third qualifying round replay – and booking a mouth-watering home tie with Leeds United.

The Spitfires may be National League underdogs, but they travel north with a near impeccable record of nine wins and two draws from 11 away games under the young Welshman – including FA Cup triumphs at Bromley, Crewe and Stourbridge.

But having watched his side perform admirably on a Silverlake mudbath only to be pegged back by a late Bolton leveller, it’s the thought of playing on a Championship-quality surface tomorrow that is really whetting Todd’s appetite.

“We’ve got a good away record, but we don’t pay too much attention to that as a group,” he said.

“It’s not about being home or away, the big difference tomorrow is that we are going to be playing on a carpet.

“Regardless of us being in the Conference, we play quite a lot of football.

“We’ve got some good footballers in our squad, no question of that, and, as we saw in the first 35 minutes against Gateshead on Saturday, we’re capable of playing nice football even when the pitch isn’t great.”

Eastleigh lost that Gateshead tie 2-1 to exit the FA Trophy, but some of their attacking play was a joy to watch.

“My only criticism was that when we were on top we didn’t really penetrate or hurt them. It’s something we’ve talked about in training,” said Todd, who has left no stone unturned preparing for the biggest match in Spitfires’ history.

After a morning’s training on the all-weather pitch at Fleming Park today, he got stuck into some analysis work to give his players the best possible chance of sinking Neil Lennon’s trouble-torn Championship strugglers.

“Myself, Shaun North (assistant) and Tom Coffey (academy goalkeeper coach) looked at different things, video clips etc.,” explained Todd, who has a full squad at his disposal minus the cup-tied Matty Fanimo.

“We’ll stop off on the way and go through bits and bobs with the players and then again at the hotel to keep stuff in their heads.

“It’s vital we put in a performance tomorrow. If we come through the 90 minutes holding our heads high, we won’t be far off.”

After attracting a club record gate of 5,025 for the home tie, Eastleigh will celebrate another ‘first’ tomorrow with over 500 Spitfires fans making the 230-mile trip to Greater Manchester.

“That support is really important to us,” said Todd. “I was a player myself not long ago and having the fans behind you gives you that extra buzz, the atmosphere really lifts you.

“It’s a great achievement for the club to have that many supporters travelling. Four years ago you wouldn’t have thought it possible.

“It’s going to be a truly great occasion for everyone involved.”

Bolton, who are bottom of the Championship and owe HM Revenue and Customs £2.2 million, had a rare piece of good news today when the High Court gave them more time to secure their future.

Putting Cup rivalry to one side, Todd said: “I’m glad they’ve got a bit of breathing space. You don’t want to see any club fall to bits, it wouldn’t be good for British football. We’re all in it together as clubs.”