Up for the Cup

There was a time once when the likes of Oxford United would have been terrified at the thought of playing Yeovil Town in the 1st round of the FA Cup. That was in our non-league days of course, when the Glovers would regularly beat football league sides. We still regularly beat football league sides these days, but as a football league side ourselves those wins don't have quite the same impact as they used to. The boot is on the other foot now at any rate, and it's ourselves worrying about going to the non-league club and being giant-killed.

It was good to see Skivo talking enthusiastically about playing in the Cup this week. In recent years our record in the competition has been less than inspiring, the nadir reached two years ago when we were dumped out 4-1 by then non-league Torquay United, in a match televised live on BBC1, thus ensuring our humiliation was visible nationwide. The season before that we were also knocked out in the first round, 3-1 at Rushden; and last year we improved by almost 100% inasmuch that we didn't lose in the 1st round. No, we lost in a 1st round replay, a 5-0 thrashing at Stockport. So there's an awful lot of room for improvement in our recent cup record. Fairly or unfairly one always had the vague impression that former manager Russell Slade saw cup matches as something of a distraction from league survival, so it's nice to see Skivo talking tomorrow's game up and to get the feeling that we're actually going to have a go at winning the match.

We've been helped by the news that Tottenham have not only given permission for Steven Caulker, Ryan Mason and Jon Obika to play in the FA Cup, they're also allowing us to keep the players until the end of the season, an excellent piece of news that will allow a modicum of continuity for this season at least. Just as encouraging is the news that Swansea have given permission for Shaun MacDonald to play, which makes one wonder whether a similar announcement regarding his long-term eligibility will be forthcoming shortly. Fingers crossed! Interestingly (well, I found it interesting) Spurs have refused permission for former Glover loanee Andros Townsend to play for Orient in their cup game. Whether this is because the left-winger is closer to Tottenham's first team or is likely to loaned out to a Championship club in the near future is open to conjecture, either way it doesn't help the O's. Probably of more interest and indeed relevance to ourselves is the fact that Reading have refused to allow on-loan keeper Mikkel Anderson to play for Bristol Rovers in their cuptie, opening the way for our own on-loan Reading keeper Alex McCarthy to play for us tomorrow, with any luck. Life was a lot simpler for managers when loan players were rarities rather than the rule, but such are the realities of modern-day football.

Skivo will have to make at least one change tomorrow because of the suspension of JP Kalala. If it was me in charge I would be inclined to bring in Kieran Murtagh to sit alongside Shaun MacDonald in the centre of midfield, and I would go with the 4-4-1-1 formation with Ryan Mason in the hole behind Sam Williams, but the great thing about the squad Skivo has built is that it is flexible and he has options to change things if things aren't quite going to plan.

The bookies can't split the sides in their odds for the game. Oxford are priced at 8/5 for the home win, the draw is 12/5, and a Glovers win at 8/5. My fiver is going on the away win. Running total: -£0.50p.

Extended highlights from the match are being shown on ITV at 10.50pm on Saturday evening. Those who are internet savvy and not going to the game may, if they're lucky, be able to pick up a live stream of the match on Saturday afternoon, not that I would condone such a practise. Oh no.

Just read: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. A dense, multi-layered crime thriller and also the first part of a trilogy. Not an easy book to read inasmuch as the complex storylines and Swedish names and setting take some getting into, but it's well worth persevering with. Unfortunately the author died after completing the final book of the three, so this and two sequels are it. A gripping read anyway and I'm looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.