TREATING Hayes & Yeading United the same as any other opponent will be the key to avoiding an upset this weekend, according to Anthony Forde.
Oxford United are the odds-on favourites to progress from the Emirates FA Cup first-round tie at Beaconsfield Road.
There are 107 places between the sides in the football pyramid, but Forde is well aware shocks will happen across the weekend.
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And the Irishman believes it all hinges on the U’s treating it like any other game as their 12-match unbeaten run is put on the line.
He said: “We have to go there and still do things right.
“Just because it’s a lower team you can’t turn up and just think you’re going to win.
“We need to be on it, because they will do their very best to cause a big upset, which would be massive for them.
“We’ll just go out there and do everything we would for a normal game.
“We need to keep the run going, which would obviously give us more confidence.
“It would be a bad one to lose, so we’re not thinking in that way.”
Forde is now fully fit after missing most of last month with a groin injury.
He made an impact as a substitute as the U’s hit back late on last weekend to draw at Portsmouth in Sky Bet League One.
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The 25-year-old’s last FA Cup action came in the third round last season, when he was part of a Rotherham United side thrashed 7-0 at Manchester City.
The surroundings will be very different on Sunday, but Forde does not see it as anything out of the ordinary.
He said: “You get that in some games in League One, different stadiums that aren’t as good, tiny changing rooms, so it’s nothing that we won’t have seen before.
“We’ve all played in games like this.
“An early goal would be nice to settle the game, but I think we’re pretty confident.”
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