MILLWALL captain Shaun Hutchinson and goalkeeper George Long have picked their preferred FA Cup ties ahead of tonight’s third round draw.
The Lions will be ball 26 as they enter the competition alongside the rest of the Championship clubs and those in the Premier League. The draw will start at 7pm and will be shown live on BBC Two.
Hutchinson is keen to face a big Premier League side, but has pinpointed one particular opponent that he believes the players and the fans would prefer.
“You want a nice tie, a big Premiership tie,” he told NewsAtDen.
“A big Premiership tie at home or a decent Premiership away team. If not, whoever you get, you obviously try to get through, especially in the early rounds. You want ties with a bit of meaning, ties that are going to be exciting, ties that the fans are going to enjoy.
“I’m sure they’re all skewing for West Ham, which I think the players would probably quite like, it would be a great atmosphere to play in.
“Especially in the early rounds, we hope and I think the fans will also hope for a nice tie. I’ve played some decent Premier League sides over the years and the atmospheres are great, they sell out pretty well.
“I’ll have a look out for that, definitely.”
Long feels the same way, recalling his previous encounters against some of the Premier League giants. However, the goalkeeper has stressed that Millwall will be up for the challenge no matter who they draw, adding that they will be determined to progress to the fourth round.
“It’s one of them, you never know what’s going to come out!
“I’ve had a few in the past. When I was at Wimbledon, we pulled Tottenham at Wembley out of the hat, so that was quite a good one a few years back.
“You never know what’s going to come out, you just want to win really. If you get a massive team then you relish the challenge, and likewise if you get a team lower down the pyramid then you have to change your mentality and still go and do a job against them to get into the next round.
“We’ll take it as it comes and see who we get.”
Asked about Hutchinson’s pick of West Ham, Long agreed that it would be a “spicy” encounter.
“I think anyone at The Den, we’d fancy the game,” he added. “Obviously The Den is an intimidating atmosphere for away teams so I’m sure people probably want to avoid us in the hat tonight.”
The matches will be played between 6-9th January 2023.
Ball numbers are as follows:
1. AFC Bournemouth
2. Arsenal
3. Aston Villa
4. Birmingham City
5. Blackburn Rovers
6. Blackpool
7. Brentford
8. Brighton & Hove Albion
9. Bristol City
10. Burnley
11. Cardiff City
12. Chelsea
13. Coventry City
14. Crystal Palace
15. Everton
16. Fulham
17. Huddersfield Town
18. Hull City
19. Leeds United
20. Leicester City
21. Liverpool
22. Luton Town
23. Manchester City
24. Manchester United
25. Middlesbrough
26. MILLWALL
27. Newcastle United
28. Norwich City
29. Nottingham Forest
30. Preston North End
31. Queens Park Rangers
32. Reading
33. Rotherham United
34. Sheffield United
35. Southampton
36. Stoke City
37. Sunderland
38. Swansea City
39. Tottenham Hotspur
40. Watford
41. West Bromwich Albion
42. West Ham United
43. Wigan Athletic
44. Wolverhampton Wanderers
45. Grimsby Town
46. Wrexham
47. Accrington Stanley
48. Fleetwood Town
49. Ipswich Town
50. Barnsley
51. Forest Green Rovera
52. Portsmouth
53. Shrewsbury Town
54. Hartlepool United
55. Stevenage
56. Charlton Athletic or Stockport County
57. Boreham Wood
58. Dagenham & Redbridge or Gillingham
59. Oxford United
60. Sheffield Wednesday
61. Chesterfield
62. Burton Albion
63. Walsall
64. Derby County
Photo: Millwall FC