Eastleigh's McCallum praises teammates in Reading FA Cup win

The forward scored twice in a 2-1 victory over the League One side to send the Spitfires into the third round where they will meet either Newport County or Barnet.

McCallum opened the scoring midway through the first half when he slid home Scott Quigley's cross. 

Femi Azeez looked to have earned a replay for the Royals but the current National League top scorer netted in stoppage time to spark wild celebrations at the Silverlake Stadium.

Reflecting on the win to Eastleigh's official media team, he said: "It was a good game. I thought we were brilliant in the first half.

"We knew second half they were going to come out and dominate the ball because they are a good team, and they have good players.

"The only time I do score on TV is the FA Cup. Being on TV today and everyone watching it added to the excitement of the occasion and luckily, I have scored two.

"A lot of teams could crumble at 1-1, they dominated the ball for the whole second half. When they score the goal, you see it often, the team comes back and goes and wins it 2-1 or 3-1.

"We have got senior players next to young players out here who can guide them through it. I thought everyone was brilliant in the last 15 minutes."

Despite notching his 18th goal of the season, the Eastleigh marksman wanted to acknowledge his teammates and he labelled it as a 'striker's dream' to play for Richard Hill's side.

He told the Daily Echo: "It’s a credit to my teammates, they are putting it on a plate for me, it is a striker’s dream to play for this team.

"You’ve got (Chris) Maguire, Quigley, and Enzio (Boldewijn) who are all players that can beat people and put it in the box.

"I thrive off attacking balls in the box. Hopefully, my form will continue. I think that’s 18 in 18 now so hopefully it can be 46 in 46 at the end of the season."

If McCallum keeps up those kinds of numbers, Eastleigh's chances of a successful season will improve considerably.