Juninho was the 'best in the Europe'

SEAN Dyche has spoken about how special a player Juninho was as he recalled captaining Chesterfield in their famous FA Cup tie with Middlesbrough.

- By CRAIG JOHNS [e-mail] @craig_johns

Back in 1997, Chesterfield almost achieved the unthinkable by reaching the FA Cup semifinal while playing in England's third tier. Their dream was ended by Boro - but only after some controversy, and with a replay required.

The sides played out a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford, before Boro’s team of superstars including Juninho and Fabrizio Ravanelli met expectations in the replay at Hillsborough, winning 3-0.

Reflecting on the game during an appearance on the Could It Be Magic? podcast with Joe Cole and Ashley Cole, Dyche said: “We were like Division One at the time, unheard of for a team like us to get to where we got to.