Left-back Liam Ridehalgh is looking forward to the challenge that Tranmere Rovers face ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie away at Barnsley.
Keith Hill takes his men to Oakwell as he comes up against one of his former clubs, having managed the Tykes between June 2011 and December 2012.
Awaiting Rovers are a Barnsley outfit who find themselves ninth in the Sky Bet Championship after collecting 34 points from 23 games, which sees the South Yorkshire side three points from the Play-Offs.
And Ridehalgh is relishing the contest this weekend, with Tranmere aiming to reach the fourth-round for a second consecutive season.
Ridehalgh said: “Barnsley are doing really well in the Championship at the minute so it will be a tough game for us, but in recent years we have done alright so hopefully we can push on.
“We’ve been there and done it before, so we can knock teams out of the competition so it would be good to get through to the fourth round.
“We’ve had a really good, tough week of training getting used to how they play and how the gaffer wants us to play, and we are just looking forward to playing now.
“I honestly believe that it is a bonus for the club if you do well in the FA Cup, and us as players would prefer to play games than train, so it is an extra game.”
Ridehalgh feels that Rovers’ previous FA Cup runs and the teams they have played in the competition over the last few campaigns can stand them in good stead.
He added: “We have played Spurs, Manchester United and Watford over the last couple of years so we have done really well and had good runs, and we will give it our best shot.
“If we can get another big team, then it would be great for the club and the players, so we’ll just have to wait and see how we do.
“Obviously, the aim for us this season is to get promoted and that’s what we will be focusing on after this game.”
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