Town host Oldham Athletic at Portman Road in the first round of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon looking for their first home victory in the competition in almost 13 years.
The Blues last won an FA Cup tie on their own turf when Jim Magilton’s side beat Chesterfield 3-0 in the third round in January 2009.
Two seasons ago the Blues defeated Lincoln City 1-0 at Sincil Bank in a first round replay, ending their 15-match winless run in the competition stretching back to January 2010, before losing 2-1 to Coventry in a second round replay at home having drawn 1-1 at St Andrew’s.
Last year Town were beaten 3-2 by Portsmouth in extra-time in the first round at Portman Road.
Boss Paul Cook has said he is taking the FA Cup seriously and will be out to improve on the Blues’ recent record of one win in 19 against in the competition Town won for the only time in 1978 against the Latics.
Oldham are going through a tough period in their history. Owner Abdallah Lemsagam, who has run the club since 2018, is hugely unpopular with fans, who are desperate for him to move on with some supporters boycotting games and a number of matches having been interrupted by pitch invasions this season.
They currently sit 22nd in League Two only out of the drop zone on goal difference having taken 12 points from their first 15 games. Away from home they have won twice in the league this season most recently a 1-0 success at Rochdale in September.
In the Carabao Cup they had a three-round run, first beating Tranmere on penalties after a 2-2 draw and then Accrington in another shoot-out following a goalless stalemate, before a 7-0 hammering at Premier League Brentford in round three.
Despite the Latics’ struggles, Cook says he won’t be taking them lightly and believes they’re a club which is bigger than their current position.
"Football clubs go through these times, Oldham traditionally, years ago under Joe Royle, were a Premier League team sailing very, very high,” he said.
"Their fans are very, very proud supporters, they only want to restore their club to where they believe they should be.
"[Manager] Keith [Curle]’s a very experienced manager with promotions under his belt. Everything takes times.
"Oldham will be in the position they’re in for reasons unbeknown to me. They’re not my issues. Certainly they’re not a bottom end of League Two football club in any shape or form and tomorrow they’ll have an opportunity to show everyone what they’re all about.”
Cook has said there will be changes to his team but won’t be fielding the sort of inexperienced side which has often been the case for Town in cup competitions in recent years.
Vaclav Hladky seems likely to return in goal with Matt Penney perhaps at left-back depending on how Hayden Coulson is after the knock which forced the on-loan Middlesbrough man off at Wycombe on Tuesday.
If Coulson is still struggling, then Cook may not be willing to risk Penney and Myles Kenlock, whose red card for the U23s on Monday won’t prevent his involvement, could make his second senior appearance of the season with cup competitions his only opportunities to play as he is not in the 23-man League One squad.
At centre-half, Luke Woolfenden could return, as may Cameron Burgess, while Cook will presumably choose between Kane Vincent-Young and Janoi Donacien at right-back, assuming the former Accrington man is over the illness which has seen him miss the last two games.
In central midfield, Idris El Mizouni and Rekeem Harper may start with Sone Aluko potentially returning on the right and perhaps Scott Fraser, who was back on the bench on Tuesday having been out with a knock, on the left.
Joe Pigott seems certain to start as the lone striker with Cook perhaps continuing with Bersant Celina as the number 10. With the on-loan Dijon man likely to be away next weekend with the Kosovo squad, the Blues boss may be less keen to involve Conor Chaplin, particularly with the former Portsmouth man having missed training ahead of the Plymouth game with back spasms.
Louie Barry, who has made only three starts and two sub appearances since joining on loan from Aston Villa, is another option.
Latics boss Keith Curle is hoping forward Zak Dearnley and winger Jack Stobbs will be available for Saturday’s match having been absent for last week’s 3-1 home defeat to Swindon - in which on-loan Blues striker Tyreece Simpson scored twice - due to illness.
Jamie Bowden was subbed in the second half after vomiting and the on-loan Tottenham midfielder is expected to be fine.
Dearnley and Stobbs were two of 10 players who were unavailable for the game against the Robins and no one else is expected to be ready to return on Saturday.
Midfield duo Nicky Adams and Ouss Cisse are among those still out, player/coach Alan Sheehan has an ongoing calf problem, while defender Sam Hart and midfielder Jamie Hopcutt have been sidelined since August and forward Junior Luamba since mid-September.
Keeper Danny Rogers has a neck problem and another glovesman Kacper Danielewicz has also been unavailable.
"I’m hoping the lads who were ill might be available,” Curle told the Oldham Times.
"We’re being battered at the minute with everything. But we’re trying to put as many things in place as we can, looking after the players, making sure their nutrition and diet and rehydration [is right]. We’re making sure everything is covered. We just need to get the injured players back.
"It seems like they’re all three or four weeks away. We’re trying to get people back on the grass as fast as we can.”
The draw for the second round takes place on Monday evening live on ITV following the first round match between Dagenham & Redbridge and Salford City.
Historically, the Blues have won seven games between the sides (five in the league) and the Latics nine (nine) with five (four) ending in draws.
The clubs have previously drawn one another in the FA Cup twice, in 1953/54 and 1963/64, both in round three.
On the first occasion the teams drew 3-3 at Portman Road - Neil Myles, Billy Reed and Tom Garneys the Town scorers - before the Blues won 1-0 away in the replay via a Garneys goal.
And in 1964 Town won 6-3 at home - the scoreline having been 5-2 at half-time - with Gerry Baker hitting a hat-trick and Danny Hegan two after Joe Broadfoot had given the Blues an early lead.
The most recent league meeting between the sides was a 4-0 Town victory at Portman Road in the second tier in April 1997 when Mick Stockwell, Geraint Williams, Neil Gregory and James Scowcroft were on the scoresheet.
Earlier that season, the teams drew 3-3 at Boundary Park when Stockwell netted twice and Alex Mathie once.
Town centre-half George Edmundson started his career with Oldham and made 77 starts and two sub appearances for the Latics, scoring three times before moving on to Rangers in June 2019.
Fellow defender Burgess spent time on loan at Boundary Park in the first half of 2016/17 during which time he played one game alongside Edmundson, a 5-4 home EFL Trophy defeat to Carlisle, and in total made 31 starts and scored two goals.
No member of the Oldham squad has previously played for the Blues but midfielder Dylan Bahamboula's elder brother Plaisir, who is now a rapper and social media star in France under the name OhPlai, spent time on trial at Portman Road in the summer of 2012.
Saturday’s referee is Neil Hair from Cambridgeshire, who has shown 26 yellow cards and no red in 10 games so far this season.
Hair was most recently at Portman Road for the 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Newport in August when he booked Aluko and two Exiles.
A month earlier he was in Suffolk for the 1-0 friendly defeat to Crystal Palace in which the Eagles’ winning goal came via a penalty awarded for a foul by Vincent-Young on Wilfried Zaha.
Hair also took charge of the 1-0 win at Burton in January in which he booked James Norwood, Luke Chambers and Andre Dozzell.
Prior to that he was in charge of the Papa John’s Trophy tie at home to Arsenal’s U21s in September last year in which he booked Jon Nolan and one of the visitors.
He was also at Portman Road in August for the pre-season friendly against West Ham last summer and the 1-0 league defeat to Fleetwood at Portman Road in March last year in which he booked former skipper Chambers and one opposition player.
Hair was also the man in the middle for the 1-1 home draw with Sunderland in August 2019 in which he yellow-carded Kayden Jackson and one Black Cat.
Squad from: Hladky, Walton, Holy, Donacien, Vincent-Young, Penney, Kenlock, Edmundson, Nsiala, Burgess, Woolfenden, Morsy, Evans, Harper, El Mizouni, Fraser, Burns, Chaplin, Celina, Edwards, Bonne, Pigott, Barry, Jackson, Norwood.