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I really can't see Cardiff becoming another statistic but it happens. If the players have the wrong attitude they will be beaten. Margate have already beaten Orient, they are giant killers already and they will want to emulate their 1st round heroics.
Cardiff will be a different proposition and with Lennie planning to play a full strength team then Margate should cause few problems.
City fans face an early start to be at Dover Athletic's Crabble Top ground. Margate are sharing this season while their home in the holiday resort is being refurbished. Kick off is 1:00pm, reportedly for the benefit of TV, but Match of the Day, the alledged reason for the early kick off time, goes out at 23:55hrs on Saturday night. It's crazy.
The first time that the goals will be shown will be on Wales on Saturday, the sports round up show on BBC 1 Wales at 4.40pm Saturday afternoon. SKY Sports are showing an FA Cup tie at 5.30pm so they, along with Sky Sports News will have goal action on Saturday evening.
City will then be the second featured game on Match of the Day late on Saturday night. The draw then will again be on the BBC on Sunday afternoon after the Oxford v Swindon game.
Many fans who are travelling are using the trip as an excuse to pop over to Calais as well to stock up on Christmas booze, there will be plenty of it drunk on the way home if we either win or lose though for two entirely different reasons.
City midfielder Andy Legg is well aware of the references to the proverbial "banana skin"
"We've got to make sure we don't slip on it. We've got to be mentally prepared for it, physically strong and go to do the job. We're treating them with the respect they deserve. They beat Leyton Orient in the last round, so we'll go there and treat them like any other league club." A full strength team will run out against Margate. Earnie, Kav, Legg and the rest will play tomorrow and then sit out the LDV game at Bournemouth on Tuesday. Next weeks reserve game has been cancelled so Lennie will have full use of the whole squad to produce a strong XI for the game at Bournemouth on Tuesday. "This isn't a game for untried youngsters and if I don't play my first-choice players in this game then by the time we play Bristol City they will have gone two weeks without a game. I don't want that. I want to be in the third round of the FA Cup. Promotion is our priority, but I will be unhappy if we don't make it to the third round. "Cup upsets happen. When I was manager at Grimsby last season we beat Liverpool in the Worthington Cup. Margate are a big team and their best chance of beating us will be at set-plays. We've got to be ready for that. "If they want to get physical then we will be equipped for that, but I don't think they will take that approach. The changing rooms at Dover will be half the size of the ones we're used to and the crowd will be smaller. We've got to be prepared for all these things. "Why is there a lot of media interest in this game? Why will the TV cameras be at Dover? I'd like to think it's because we're the best team in the cup at this stage, but I know that's not the case. They want an upset. There will be a hell of a lot of people watching with interest to see if we slip up." "Losing against Margate would be a body blow, but I don't think it would carry over into the rest of the season. If we lost against Margate and also against Bristol City then that would be a problem - but I don't intend to lose either game."
After reports this week that Sam has no interest in the Cup and that Lennie is keen to do well it's nice to see the players want to win.
Legg continued
"They are difficult ties. If you're not mentally strong or not prepared for the battle, who knows what can happen. The first 20 minutes will be high tempo, the crowd will be hostile and we've got to match them in every department. Hopefully, our footballing skills and fitness will take over later on.
"We want to win every game. Winning games breeds confidence and if we beat Margate we'll go into the Bristol City game with plenty of confidence. If we lose against Margate, it could harm our promotion hopes."
The squad for Margate is expected to be.
probable, Alexander, Weston, Prior, Barker, Croft, Hamilton, Boland, Kavanagh, Legg, Earnshaw, Thorne. Subs from Margetson, Barker, Collins, Fan Zhiyi, Bonner, Bowen, Leo FW, Campbell.
City boss Lennie Lawrence will be in the stand at Crabble Top tomorrow, his three match touchline ban starts against Margate and he will watch as a spectator for the games at Bournemouth and at home to Bristol City. Lawrence received the ban for calling Clive Wilkes a cheat when City conceed a 95th minute equaliser at Home Park aginst Plymouth earlier in the season.
Lennie would be be drawn on the subject of his ban, the first of his career, as he did not want to take away focus from tomorrow's game against Margate. Lennie gave the Western mail his thoughts on the trip to Dover.
There will be the usual chat room coverage and reaction from the messageboard.
There you go a whole match preview with no mention of bluebirds over white cliffs or tacky Chas n Dave songs.
Have a safe journey to Dover and here's hoping we are in the third round draw on Sunday.