SOCCER: The rank outsiders Yeading have been handed a glamour tie at home to Newcastle in the third round of the English FA Cup as a reward for overcoming their fellow Ryman League stalwarts Slough Town.
Following a draw which featured no all-Premiership clashes, Yeading's manager Johnson Hippolyte immediately called for the game to be switched from their 3,500-capacity ground, The Warren, to St James' Park but that may not be permitted under competition rules. The English FA moved to strengthen the rule book after Farnborough's tie with Arsenal two years ago was switched to Highbury for safety reasons.
Hippolyte said: "I'm very happy with the draw but I am just a bit concerned about what the FA are going to do. We want to switch it because we can't play it here. Let's get it on there."
Yeading, the lowliest survivors in the draw, have been rated 20,000 to 1 to lift the cup at the Millennium Stadium next May by William Hill.
Exeter City of the Conference face a money-spinning tie at Manchester United. Exeter, relegated from the English League in 2003 and whose director of football Steve Perryman led Tottenham Hotspur to successive FA Cup wins in 1981 and 1982, made it through after a 2-1 victory over League Two side Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
The game represents a lifeline for the Devon club who have been perilously close to extinction because of financial problems for years. The club are currently 13th in the Conference - 99 places below United.
Manchester United won the only other previous Cup match between the pair 3-1 in a third round tie in 1968/'69.
Perryman said: "All our supporters are going to love this tie and love travelling up there. I think we will take a lot up there for what will be a great day for the players and staff and a reward for everyone behind the scenes keeping the club going."
The top two in the Premiership have both been drawn at home against lower-league opposition. Chelsea, the 4 to 1 favourites for the cup, take on the League Two leaders Scunthorpe United. Arsenal's opponents Stoke City currently lie ninth in the Championship. In all 13 second-tier teams were drawn against Premiership opposition, nine of them at home.
Liverpool, Everton and Aston Villa all must travel - Liverpool to Burnley, Everton to Plymouth and Villa to Sheffield United.
Meanwhile, as Arsenal prepare for their crucial Champions League clash against Rosenborg tomorrow, Thierry Henry responded to his critics and claimed he was "not a machine."
Henry, who will captain Arsenal in the absence of Patrick Vieira through suspension, demonstrated the incredibly high standards which he demands from himself as he insisted that his haul of 16 goals for the season to date was "still not enough".
The Frenchman said: "I've always been like that. Whether I'd played well or scored, my dad always used to say 'it's not enough'. I don't mind that."
However, he chuckles at the criticism which has increasingly been coming his way over the past few months. "It's funny as they don't talk about the real things. It doesn't annoy me, it just makes me laugh," he responded. "We are not machines, no one is. People should see how many games people play. When you don't do it for one or two games out of 300, people give you stick but that's the way it is."
Henry has already admitted that he is currently playing at just 70 per cent capacity because of injury.
Arsenal will be without not only Vieira, but also Lauren, through suspension against Rosenborg, whom they need to beat to make sure of their place in the last 16. They will also be missing Gilberto Silva, Edu and Pascal Cygan through injury, although Dennis Bergkamp is still hopeful of making a comeback at Highbury.
