Leeds United fan on special celebration plans if he scores against Whites for Accrington Stanley

Rodgers, a Leeds fan, has been inundated with calls from his match-going Whites mates since the FA Cup draw threw his employer and his favourite team together, although the phone stopped ringing when he made it clear he couldn't hand them all freebies. Had Accrington not overcome Boreham Wood to secure a game against the Premier League side, Rogers might well have been in the crowd at Meadow Park cheering on Jesse Marsch's men today.

"I have been a big Leeds fan all my life, I still go and watch them when I can," he said, in an interview on Accrington's YouTube channel.

"There are a lot more downs than ups but over the last few years, it’s been brilliant watching them. I went to a few games when Leeds got promoted to the Premier League and we are back where we belong now. Before Boreham Wood, I wasn’t allowing myself to look forward to the Saturday's game but as soon as the final whistle went on Tuesday, it was relief that Leeds was going to happen. Then my phone didn’t stop ringing but as soon as I told my mates they have to pay for tickets, I didn’t get many replies.

"My mates are bigger fans than me, they still go all the time. I'd like to think they'd want me to win, but a couple of mates would definitely like to see me get tortured by the Leeds players. I think the ideal scenario for them would be for Leeds to win and me to score."

Goalscoring is a relatively new phenomenon for the Selby-born defender. Prior to this season he had one career goal, claimed against Notts County in 2017. This season, however, he already has five to his name and sits joint second in Accrington's top scorer list.

After all three of his headed goals in League One, Rodgers has pulled his shirt over his face, spread his arms wide and then performed a forward roll. The same celebration greeted his pair of strikes in an EFL Trophy game against Burton Albion. Should he manage to score against the club he's supported for his entire life, the centre-back already has in mind what he wants to do.

"There is [one planned], I'm not going to tell you what it is," he said.

"You'll see it if I do score."

And while Rodgers acknowledges that Accrington will need to be disciplined and organised to avoid 'a good beating' live on the BBC, he also has a confidence that they can cause problems of their own, having watched Leeds so closely this season.

"I don't really want to think about [how many will be watching],” he said.

"Obviously all my girlfriend's family have said they'll watch it on TV. It's 12.30pm kick-off on Saturday on BBC – how many people are going to be watching? Hopefully we can give a good account of ourselves. We want to go out there, keep it as tight as possible and watching Leeds I know we'll cause them problems from set-pieces, long throw-ins.

"Anything is possible. We can definitely go out there and get a result. I think that there is a chance that we could beat them, so we've got to believe that as well. It’s something I'll look back on saying I have played against the club I have supported all my life, and all my family and friends were there. It'll be a good occasion."