Gunners' fan says hooray as Henry awaits

The Beeb have gone to great lengths to showcase the FA Cup, employing the services of some of the game's biggest names to highlight the key ties of the third round. But there was no need to spend a penny. Never has there been a better advert for the oldest knockout competition in the world than when the Oxford United dressing room erupted as they were drawn against Arsenal. So much for the Cup having lost its magic.

Of all the players captured celebrating the prospect of a trip to Arsenal, one stood out. Jefferson Louis was barely decent, relying only on a small towel to cover himself, when news broke that Oxford were going to face the Double winners. What followed was a song and dance of epic proportions; proof, if needed, that professional footballers still get excited at the thought of 90 minutes of fame.

"It's a good game for the players because very rarely do they get the opportunity to face Premiership opposition," Ian Atkins, the more phlegmatic Oxford manager, says. "It will take a minor miracle for us to get anything at Highbury, but I don't think we're too worried. What matters is that we're going there. You can feel the buzz around the place at the moment."

No one is more enthusiastic about the opportunity of facing the Double winners than Louis. "Jefferson's been an Arsenal fan nearly all his life," fellow striker Manny Omoyinmi explains. "He's supported the Gunners since he was a kid and has been really hyperactive about coming face to face with his idols.

"To be perfectly honest, Jefferson has been driving us around the bend ever since the draw. There isn't a day that goes by when he doesn't talk about the game. I can tell you right now that if there were Thierry Henry action men in the shops, he'd have every single one in his room by now. He's obsessed with the guy."

In truth, most of Oxford's squad are finding it difficult to contain themselves ahead of the big occasion next Saturday. Every one of the players has a reason for wanting to shine. Omoyinmi, for example, is particularly keen to use this tie to banish bad memories from the 1999 League Cup.

Three years ago, the Nigerian centre-forward was at the heart of a Worthington Cup storm, as he played for two clubs in the same season. Omoyinmi was a West Ham player when he went out on loan to Gillingham for less than two months. While in Kent, he represented the Gills only seven times, but two of those appearances were in an early round of the Worthington Cup, a fact that had escaped him by the time he returned to east London.

There might never have been more to the story had he not come on as a late substitute during the Hammers' quarter-final against Aston Villa. Omoyinmi only played for six minutes, but his actions forced the tie to be replayed. To make matters worse, Villa won the replay. Huge financial losses were suffered as a consequence, prompting the company secretary, Graham Mackrell, to resign. And the witch-hunt did not end there. Omoyinmi was quickly targeted by the then manager, Harry Redknapp, as the main culprit. "In racing parlance," the now Portsmouth manager said at the time, "interference took place but it did not affect the result. We're not talking Paolo Di Canio, we're talking Manny Omoyinmi – a guy who's never been near the first team. I don't even know why I put him on."

The fans, too, took exception to the then 21-year-old, blaming him for the failure to reach the Cup final. "In the end, I just had to go," Omoyinmi admits. "It was difficult on me and my family and it really hurt at the time. It's not nice reading nasty things written about you in the papers or said on TV. But I'm trying to move on now. I don't want to keep looking back."

Omoyinmi adds: "That's why I'm hoping the manager will give me the chance to shine against Arsenal. I'm a bit of a closet Gooner myself and would love to go back to London. I was in the team and doing really well earlier this season, but then I got injured and, by the time I was fit again, other players had jumped ahead of me in the queue. Don't get me wrong, competition is a good thing. It's just that I know I can cut the mustard at this level."

The competition for places is a clue to Oxford United's new-found confidence and stability. Atkins has slowly turned results around, leading the club to the play-off places in the Third Division, as well as victories over Bristol City and Charlton in this year's Worthington Cup. Oxford also gave Aston Villa a scare in the fourth round until they surrendered three quick goals in the last 15 minutes.

"We've given Premiership teams a hell of a run for their money," Omoyinmi says, "so who knows? It's one you wouldn't expect us to win, but that's the great thing about cup competitions: anything really can happen."

Doesn't Omoyinmi know it.