THE latest member of the Green footballing dynasty will tonight play what he considers “one of the biggest matches of my career”.

Michael Green’s Eastleigh will strive to bridge a two-division gulf when they travel to Swindon Town for an FA Cup first round replay, writes PAUL McNAMARA.

The left-back, raised in New Milton and now based in Sway, started his career playing under AFC Lymington legend Graham Kemp at Brockenhurst and then Christchurch.

Kemp is the thread that links Michael and dad Kevin’s careers.

Kevin and current Bemerton Heath Harlequins boss Kemp forged a formidable centre-half pairing as AFC Lymington dominated Wessex League football in the mid-late 1990s.

Indeed, that duo’s calibre was recognised when the Wessex League celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011 by naming its team of those 25 years.

Kemp and Kevin Green were selected in the back four of a side spearheaded by current Southampton striker Charlie Austin.

It was Swindon, of course, who gave ex-Poole Town star Austin his big break.

And when Michael Green faced the Wiltshire club in front of the BBC cameras ten days ago, his tenacious display led former Arsenal defender Martin Keown to liken him to his erstwhile Gunners team-mate Nigel Winterburn.

While the 27-year-old welcomes the comparison – albeit he admits he’s too young to remember three-times English title winner Winterburn – there remains a lingering disappointment at the way in which Eastleigh allowed the League One club to escape the Silverlake Stadium with a 1-1 draw.

But Green is backing his side to complete the job at Swindon’s County Ground on a night when he can bury the personal disappointment of missing the Hampshire team’s third round clashes with Bolton last season.

Green, who recently played his 250th game Eastleigh, told the (Bournemouth) Daily Echo: “We have a lot of league experience in our side and we’re an older team than they are.

“Everyone will be confident going there. We should have won at home, we had enough chances and they cleared one off the line at the end.

“This is definitely one of the biggest matches of my career because, for the first Bolton game, I was ill and, in the replay, I was on the bench and didn’t get on.”

Green left Christchurch for Eastleigh in 2009 after being asked to effectively trial for the club in the soccer sevens tournament in Hong Kong.

He subsequently moved on to AFC Totton where he established a reputation as one of the finest footballers on the local non-League scene.

Word soon spread and Green was signed by Port Vale. After making five starts for then League Two Vale, he returned to Eastleigh in 2011.

The Spitfires have since been promoted into the National League and Green harbours ambitions of operating on a higher stage.

He says Kemp’s influence during his formative years was crucial in moulding the can-do attitude he has today.

“When I played for Kempy at Brock and Christchurch, he always told me I should go higher,” says Green. “He always pushed me and it’s something I wanted to do.

“If I could step up that would be good. It would be nice to do it with Eastleigh. That’s the chairman’s plan – to get the club into the league.”

Swindon last week appointed Tim Sherwood as director of football. But in keeping with his mood of optimism, Green does not expect the former Tottenham boss’s influence to shape this tie.

He said: “To change them that quickly, he’d have to be a bit of a miracle worker.

“It will give them a boost, but we will still be confident of winning.”