Notts County’s 2018-19 Emirates FA Cup campaign gets underway on Saturday with a trip to Barnsley.
After reaching the fourth round of last year’s competition, the Magpies will be hoping to kick off a similar run when they travel to Oakwell.
They will have their work cut out against the Sky Bet League One promotion contenders who are currently fourth in the table, but it is the cup after all.
Away from league action, Notts will hope to put a difficult run behind them and benefit from some FA Cup magic to record an upset in Yorkshire.
Notts boss Harry Kewell says...
"The FA Cup has so much history and if you get a chance to play in it then you have to grab it with both hands.
"We know it will be a tough game but if you're going to enter a competition you might as well face one of the best teams and Barnsley are firing on all cylinders.
"They are expected to win the game so we have nothing to lose and the pressure is off us.
"We're all looking forward to the match and if we go there with the right attitude, there's no reason we can't cause them problems."
Barnsley assistant head coach Andreas Winkler says…
“I like the cup because it’s real football. We’re really looking forward to Saturday.
“We’re no longer in the Carabao Cup so we want to go through to the next round of this competition.
“Notts County have a strong side and we need to pay attention to them. We think they could do better because they concede a lot of goals, but they score a lot too.
“They try to build up and play football, but I think their problem is that they haven’t found a rhythm yet and are still looking for balance between attack and defence.”
Team news
Elliott Hewitt will be available, with his one match suspension for picking up five yellow cards only applying to league matches.
Kane Hemmings and Jon Stead will hope to be fit after both missing Tuesday’s goalless draw with Oldham.
Barnsley’s Cauley Woodrow played 45 minutes in the Checkatrade Trophy in midweek and could be in line for another start as he continues his recovery from injury.
We’ve met before
Notts last met Barnsley in April 2015 where Balint Bajner’s 90th-minute equaliser cancelled out Sam Winnall’s opener at Meadow Lane.
In the last clash at Oakwell, Michael Petrasso’s brace helped the Magpies come from two goals down to record a 3-2 win in League One.
The sides have never met in the FA Cup before.
The afternoon’s officials
Referee: Sebastian Stockbridge
Assistants: Gareth Mellor and Helen Byrne
Fourth official: John Matthews