Alan Power and Lincoln City have already made history with their fairy-tale Emirates FA Cup run – now the Imps just want to have fun when they take on Burnley this Saturday.
Danny Cowley’s side have captured the hearts and minds of the British public with their progress to the fifth round; the non-league side taking down both Ipswich and Brighton en route thus far.
Next up they head to Turf Moor to take on Sean Dyche’s Premier League Clarets, who sit 81 places above them in the football pyramid.
And Power – a former Republic of Ireland Under-21 midfielder, who scored a penalty against Brighton in the last round – cannot wait for kick-off on Saturday.
“All the pressure is on them; for us it is a free shot and we are going to enjoy it,” he said.
“Of course the last couple of performances against the big dogs like Ipswich and Brighton have filled us with confidence but we have also learned a lot.
“We cannot sit back. We want to go there and put in our performance, not try and soak them up or we could get hammered.
“Everybody is relishing it. These are players we normally only see on Match of the Day so it will be a great test.
“We want to go out and enjoy it. Not many of us have had a chance to play at this level and most of us probably never will again but, out there on the pitch on Saturday, we fancy ourselves.”
Cowley’s Imps come into the clash on a four-match winning streak in all competitions and sit top of the National League.
And, while Power admits promotion back to the Football League remains the club’s priority, that has not stopped them from doing their research on the Clarets.
“Teams have not been prepared for the way that we play,” added Power. “We have been able to surprise teams and impose our game on them.
“Hopefully Burnley have not prepared the right way as well and have underestimated us. But their record at Turf Moor is exceptional – I watched them against Chelsea and they were superb.
“It has been a whole team effort to get us here and we want to achieve something.
“As we keep saying, we have not done anything yet. It’s nice to have been on this cup run and we are top of the table but that doesn’t count for anything.”
FA Cup history
Lincoln City are looking to become the first non-league side to make the FA Cup quarter-finals since the competition adopted its current format in 1925.
They have made the fifth round once before, but that came all the way back in 1887.
Burnley won the FA Cup in 1914 and have reached the final three times in total – most recently in 1962. However, they have not been past the fifth round in 14 years.
Did you know?
Burnley are yet to concede a goal in their three matches in the Emirates FA Cup this season. They downed Sunderland 2-0 in a replay in the Third Round after drawing the first match 0-0, before another 2-0 win saw off Bristol City in round four.
One to watch?
Josh Ginnelly is on loan at Lincoln from Burnley but the man to watch is undoubtedly Imps frontman Matt Rhead.
The former Mansfield striker is their top scorer this season and bagged a double last time out in the league, so is certainly in form.
His sturdy 6ft 4in frame takes some stopping as his team-mate Power can attest: “Not many defenders have seen someone like him – he offers something different and we can catch teams out.”
The prize
The winners will book a place in the last eight and guarantee themselves at least £180,000.
