A weekend which filled me with fear

FA CUP third round weekend is still one of the highlights of my year. As a player, I dreaded the prospect of being on the receiving end of a shock. It is one of those experiences you could live without and I was fortunate it never happened to me in my career.

I still get excited about the FA Cup, and the third round in particular, because I was brought up on giant-killings.

You could never grow tired of seeing Ronnie Radford’s winner for Hereford against Newcastle, and John Motson’s famous commentary.

Then there was the memorable Leeds United defeat at Colchester in 1971, one of the biggest shocks which the current team will be hoping to avoid at Newport County today.

Leeds are doing well under Thomas Christiansen, despite losing Chris Wood to Burnley, and there seems to be some stability with the new owners which is being rewarded with a promising promotion campaign.

But Newport are having a good season in League Two after avoiding relegation and sending Hartlepool down on the final day of last season, thanks to Dubliner Mark O’Brien’s winner.

They are now managed by exWigan player Michael Flynn while Pádraig Amond (above), who has forged a fine career for himself in the lower leagues since leaving Sligo Rovers, should be leading the line today.

The other tie I’ll be keeping an eye on is West Ham’s visit to Shrewsbury, which will be a tricky game for David Moyes’ jaded team.

It sounds corny but this is what the FA Cup is all about. West Ham fans will be on edge going to New Meadow because they know their team could be the victims of a shock today.