It's that rarest of events at Oxford United . . . a home FA Cup tie on a Saturday - and on paper they will never have a better chance of progressing in this plum tie.

Opponents Northwich Victoria have lost every away game this season, apart from their appearance in the fourth qualifying round, when they won 3-1 at Southport, who were relegated to Conference North.

The intrigue for U's fans is who will be picking their team, with widespread reports that Jim Smith was planning to move upstairs.

Smith, who was away in Spain in the early part of this week, was at training yesterday, along with his assistant Darren Patterson.

Patterson said earlier in the week that, because of the team's long list of injuries, they had been looking at different systems.

However, he stressed: "We will be working on a system that best suits the players we have available."

But their two-goal hero from the last round, Jordan Rhodes, will not be there to help them.

The 17-year-old has been recalled by his club Ipswich Town after an outstanding month on loan at United.

Northwich have managed just three points from 18 games in the Blue Square Premier and there is an air of resignation around the Cheshire club that they will be relegated.

But the FA Cup represents a welcome break from the league for them, and they will be relishing their visit to the Kassam Stadium, even if they did crash 5-1 there last season.

Northwich are in big financial difficulties and the club is currently in the middle of a planned take-over.

But Vics boss Dino Maamria is also aware that Oxford have not been in very good form lately, and says it's a good time to be playing them.

He said: "It's well documented that both teams are having problems at the moment, so it's all about who plays better on Saturday.

"That's what the FA Cup is all about. The formbook goes out of the window and my players have a chance to perform in front of a big crowd in a great stadium.

"That's enough of an incentive for anybody."

Maamria is still technically only a caretaker boss at the Victoria Stadium. The consortium hoping to buy the club have said he will be appointed as permanent manager once the take-over is completed, but it hasn't happened yet!

He added: "We are treating every game like an FA Cup tie at the moment to try and kick-start our season.

"The players know it's an important competition for the club and they got a huge lift from winning at Southport in the last round so I hope we can build on that this weekend."

United can surely only improve after their crushing 5-0 defeat at Rushden, in which so many players made individual errors.

Northwich themselves lost 2-0 at home to Stevenage last Saturday, though played much better than that scoreline suggests.

"I thought it was too easy for Stevenage once they scored their second goal," Maamria said.

"As a player and manager I will fight every inch of the way and I want that to be reflected by my team. They should never give up."

Under Maamria, Vics have played eight games, won one, drawn two and lost five.

Their one win came on the road, at Southport, but they have lost at Weymouth, Forest Green and Grays on their other away days.

As well as U's old boy Lee Steele, they have the ex-Rochdale striking duo of Paul Tait and Kevin Townson, though they have hardly set the world on fire.

This is, incredibly, United's first Saturday FA Cup tie at home since they moved to the Kassam, and the first since Mickey Lewis was in charge, when they avoided a Cup shock by edging past Morecambe 3-2 at the Manor Ground in 1999.

Then, of course, Oxford United were a Football League club and Morecambe a Conference outfit.

Pictured is Yemi Odubade who is hoping to fire the U's to glory against Northwich.