Carlisle United boss Graham Kavanagh feels there is no reason why his team can't produce one of the surprises of the Third Round when they travel to Sunderland on Sunday.
The League One side, who last defeated Sunderland in April 1974, will head to the Stadium of Light with four ex-Mackems among their ranks.
In addition to Kavanagh himself, who spent three years as a Black Cats player between 2006 and 2009, the Carlisle manager may also call upon Pascal Chimbonda, Liam Noble and Paul Thirlwell.
Sunderland v Carlisle United
The FA Cup with Budweiser
Third Round Proper
2pm, Sunday 5 January 2014
Stadium of Light
With so many familiar faces on show, it promises to be an exciting encounter, while Kavanagh admits long-standing friendships will be put aside for 90 minutes.
He told the Sunderland Echo: "On a personal level it's great for me. I still live over that way and Sunderland is a club I have close to my heart. I still look out for their results and a lot of my friends are Mackems.
"Having said all of that, I'm going there to try to win. The chances of us winning are probably slim. But it's about what we can do on the day. It's The FA Cup and it throws up all kinds of surprises every year. There's no reason why we can't be one of them.
"Games like this are a chance to put the club on the map. If you go there and get a win then people up and down the length of the country talk about it."
Kavanagh's Sunderland counterpart has fond memories of The Cup having been part of the Chelsea team that lifted the trophy at Wembley in 2000.
Indeed Gus Poyet was the top scorer in that year's competition with six goals, including a brace in the 2-1 semi-final win over Newcastle United under the old Twin Towers.
Sunderland, of course, produced one of the most memorable Cup Final shocks of all-time back in 1973 when they defeated Leeds United 1-0 and Poyet would love his current crop to end their 41-year trophy drought this season.
He said: "Why shouldn't a club like Sunderland not have the ambition of winning a cup competition? This club has not won a major trophy for more than 40 years. That's too long.
"Everyone still talks about that win in 1973 even now - that shows how much hunger there is for success here.
"We are through to the semi-finals of the League Cup and if - and it's a big if - we can beat Manchester United over two legs this month, we would be at Wembley. Can we go that far in The FA Cup? Who knows.
"But we will do our very best. The fans want to be proud of their team and see some victories, and I know every Sunderland fan would like to see the club win a cup again."
