If any Oxford player who can’t get in the side at the moment thought he might stand a better chance of a place against Thurrock, he’d better think again.

Manager Chris Wilder has indicated they will be treating next Saturday’s home FA Cup tie against the Blue Square South side totally seriously and professionally.

“It’s an important game for the football club,” he said.

“It’s an important game for the supporters because we want to be in the first round, and it’s an important game for the players because I want them to get into the habit of winning games.

“We want the opportunity of taking on bigger clubs than ourselves, and we want to match ourselves up against teams from higher leagues.

“We’ve got to make sure we do things properly against every team, and it will be no different against Thurrock to what happens this Saturday.

“We’ll pick a team to try and win the game and I’ll expect the players to be showing the same desire.

“We can’t do one thing one week and something different the next.

“We’ve got to be at it.”

Marcus Kelly could be back in the reckoning by then. He returned to training for the first time yesterday after his long lay-off with a toe injury.

Thurrock, managed by former Wycombe midfielder Hakan Hayrettin, will make some money from the tie.

But they are not new to big FA Cup matches.

In 2003 their first-round tie against Luton was chosen by Sky as their live Friday night match. It finished 1-1.

The following year, BBC Match of the Day Live cameras visited their Ship Lane ground for a first-round clash with Oldham Athletic, which the Latics won 1-0.