FA Cup 3rd round: Derby County v Burnley - Pete Oliver's preview

DERBY County may have a new home since the last time they entertained Burnley in the FA Cup, but Saturday's third-round tie at Pride Park will still conjur up some special memories for Clarets lynch-pin Steve Davis.

Davis, back for a second spell at Turf Moor, is the sole survivor from the meeting between the clubs at the same stage of the competition in January, 1992.

Derby, then in the old Second Division, won through 2-0 at the second time of asking after fog forced the abandonment of the original replay, brought about by a 2-2 draw at Turf Moor.

But Burnley's disappointment of missing out on a home clash with Aston Villa was lost in the aftermath of the game at the Baseball Ground, where the Clarets fans took centre stage.

Some 4,000 supporters stayed on after the final whistle to extend their chants of 'Jimmy Mullen's Claret and Blue Army' for almost half-an-hour, prompting a curtain-call from the vanquished Burnley players, chasing promotion from Division Four at the time, and national exposure in the Press.

Davis, who is delighted to have been paired with Derby again, recalled: "There were thousands of Burnley fans there and the police came into the dressing room after the game and said we had to go back out to see the supporters because they weren't going anywhere and the police wanted to get home for their tea.

"We lost but it was a great day for the club and I remember there was a massive piece in The Sun about the scenes the following day." Burnley will have even more backers tomorrow with almost 5,000 tickets having been sold to away fans. And Davis hopes they won't be left disappointed.

"If we play to our strengths and our capabilities we've got a decent chance of doing something. It's not a game to go into with any fear. It's not like going to Arsenal and thinking 'We could be on the end of one here'," he added.

Despite their contrasting league form, Burnley will still be the underdogs against a side struggling in the Premiership but packed with high-quality players like Argentian defender Horace Carbonari, midfielders Georgi Kinkladze and Craig Burley and striker Dean Sturridge.

County have lost at home seven times in the Premiership, but wily boss Jim Smith is hoping the recent arrivals of £3 million man Burley and ex-Manchester City star Kinkladze will stop the rot. We have had a bit of chat about Kinkladze with Paul Cook and Micky Mellon," confessed Davis.

"It will be a great experience to play against top-class players and it's nice, from our point of view, to show what we can do.

"It will be a good test. If we want to compete in the First Division, if we go up, it will be a good test to see how far we've come."

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