Lincoln ready for '1,000/1 shot' against Arsenal

LONDON: Lincoln manager Danny Cowley accepts his nonleague side have just a "one in a thousand chance" of beating Arsenal in the FA Cup quarterfinals but is determined they do more than just "enjoy the day".

The Imps are the first nonleague team to reach the last eight of the FA Cup, football's oldest senior knockout competition, since 1914.

Their journey to the quarterfinals, which started in the fourth qualifying round, has seen them beat Championship sides Ipswich and Brighton before seeing off Burnley with a 1-0 win at the Premier League club's Turf Moor ground.

For all Arsenal's recent struggles, including a 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League that heaped pressure on underfire manager Arsene Wenger, anything other than a home victory for the joint record 12-time FA Cup winners at the Emirates on Saturday would be a colossal shock.

"We understand that the chance is probably one in a thousand, but we will go there with the belief that this can be the one time," said Cowley, whose squad trained at West Ham on Friday.

However, he added: "I would never do the disservice to my players to tell them to wake up on Saturday morning and just enjoy the day. We are professional people, we work every day for this, it is our lives.

"We have to put emotion to one side and will have clear minds on Saturday morning.

"We know what is in front of us, but it is not every Saturday you wake up with such an opportunity."