PORT VALE cup hero Ben Waine believes the pressure is on Chelsea as League One’s bottom side head to Stamford Bridge this weekend.

Waine scored the winner as the Valiants stunned Premier League side Sunderland last month to set up an FA Cup quarter-final meeting with the Club World Cup champions.

Vale’s unlikely run in the competition has provided some rare bright moments in an otherwise dismal season, with the team 14 points adrift of safety in the third tier and facing relegation.

Waine feels the team have nothing to lose heading into tomorrow’s tie.

“I don’t think there needs to be real pressure on the team,” said the New Zealand international. “The difference in standard is there – the world champions, they play in the Premier League and we are where we are in the league.

“We know we’re the underdogs, plain and simple, so I don’t necessarily feel too much pressure with that.

“It’s more, ‘How can we upset them?’ If anything, the pressure may be on them a little bit more.”

It has been an eventful period for Waine, whose Alan Shearer-inspired celebration after his goal against Sunderland earned him a congratulatory message from the former Newcastle striker himself.

Waine, a boyhood Magpies fan, said: “Even the fact after that last game, to even see that he had acknowledged the celebration was enough for me. That’s something special.”

On top of that Waine, also the match-winner against Bristol City in the fourth round, has just returned from World Cup warm-up friendlies against Finland and Chile in Auckland.

“It’s always special to get called up for your country and for it to be back home as well in front of family – and to score a goal, it was super special,” said Waine, who notched against the South Americans on Monday.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but I’m super excited, and what a game to come back into.”

The drama seems unlikely to stop there either, with the small matter of this summer’s World Cup to come, but he is not focusing on that just yet.

He said: “It’s pretty simple for me now I’m back here. It was nice to play those kind of prep games for the World Cup but it’s now focusing on finishing the season strong.

“It’s get what we can out of this game and hopefully cause an upset and then it’s straight back into the league and seriously trying to keep this club up.”