A Worcester student has played a key role in Tamworth's "dream" FA Cup journey.

Ethan Parker, 22, a third-year sports coaching student at the University of Worcester, has been working as Tamworth's performance analyst as part of his course.

The non-league club, which sits 16th in the Vanarama National League, faced Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the tournament, losing 3-0.

Mr Parker said: "Starting my placement in August, I had no real idea of where it would go, so to have played my part with a team which beat two League One sides and took on Spurs was incredible."

He added: "I’m the only analyst at Tamworth, so I’ve been able to lean on my lecturers a lot to help me learn on the job and go through the process."

He is one of eight members of staff at Tamworth FC who are either current or former students or staff at the university.

This includes head coach and academy manager Tim Dudding, who is currently studying for a PhD at the university.

Beth Willment, the club's head therapist and a sports therapy technician at the university, said: "Tottenham will have several full-time people doing all of the different roles I do for Tamworth, so I’ve been very busy these last few weeks.

"We were speechless when we found out we were playing Tottenham.

"We didn’t really know what to expect until we arrived at work before, and the car park was full of film crews and kit from Tottenham, that’s when it hit us."

She added: "Having that exposure for the club and all of us has been great, we’ve made a lot of connections which we will have for life.”

For Ethan, his FA Cup journey and placement at the club have helped him decide on a path for the future."

For Mr Parker, his placement at the club has solidified his career path.

He said: "I enjoyed performance analysis before my placement, but this has shown me that it’s the field I want to work in.

“My next step is to apply for my Master’s in Sports Performance Analysis at Worcester.”