Last season, the U's were in League Two while the Magpies were a Premier League side, but now there is only one division between the two sides.

Appleton expects his goalkeeper to be in for a busy afternoon at a sold out Kassam Stadium but is hoping to pull off another shock in the competition after knocking top-flight Swansea out last season and Championship team Rotherham this term.

He told Yellow Player HD: “Everyone wants to be involved in the FA Cup. It has something special about it and over the last two years we have seen that.

“Last season we came up against Blackburn and strangely, for some reason we found ourselves favourites going into that one. It will be very different this time around.

"We are playing a side flying at the top of the league, high on confidence and with a winning mentality and a fantastic manager in place. It's going to be one hell of a tough game but certainly one we are relishing.

“Over the cup ties in the last year or so we have beaten numerous Championship sides  but I am not stupid. I know on Saturday, (goalkeeper) Simon Eastwood is going to have to be man of the match and some of my players are going to have to have fantastic games.

"We are going to have to have a bit of luck too if we are to win the game. But the reality is that there will be one or two surprises somewhere in the cup and we want one of them to be us. We have a good mentality about us and have only had a couple of defeats in very tight games in the last 15 or 16 matches.

“I want the players to know it is a massive game, but one where we have nothing to lose. My message to the players is to make sure we are still in the game after 70 minutes, because if we are, with a full house at Grenoble Road and the place rocking like we know it can, then anything can still happen.”