Barnard: 'Southend also beat Man United before my time there
Former striker Lee Barnard has settled in well with League One Southampton, and his seventh goal of the season against Premier League Blackpool in the third round of the FA Cup, a shock in itself, has seen them against Premiership legends and present leaders Manchester United in the last 32 at St. Mary's.
Barnard told www.echo-news.co.uk: "You never know what can happen in the FA Cup and we will certainly be giving it our best shot, but it's going to be brilliant to play against such a good side. They're an unbelievable team so it's going to be very difficult, but we drew with Chelsea when I was with Southend and they also beat Man United before my time there, so it would be fantastic if we could do something similar."
The good lord opened the scoring against the other Seasiders at the weekend and it was a bonus to Lee after returning to the first team from a long injury, something we got used to in his time at Roots Hall where many fans christened him 'sicknote'.
Barnard continued: "It was the first game I had started since having a hernia operation six weeks ago, so it was brilliant to score and to get the win. It was a big game and, even though they left a few players out, Blackpool are still a Premier League club, so for us to beat them was great. Hopefully I can go on to get more goals now as well because the first half of the season was a bit stop-start for me."
Good luck Barney and the rest of the Saints side when the step out to face Fergie's lot, and we can see it live on ITV1 on Saturday, January 29th with a 19.15 kick-off. (Though some of us will have to find a pub near to the Barnet ground!)
The game will be a re-run of the 1976 FA Cup Final that the Saints won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Bobby Stokes.
Both clubs will receive The FA live broadcast fee of £144,000.