NEWPORT County AFC keeper Joe Day doesn’t exactly have fond memories of the last time he played in the third round of the FA Cup.

With the Exiles 2-1 down at home to Blackburn Rovers last January, gloveman Day was shown a straight red card deep into second-half injury-time.

The visitors held out for the victory to earn a fourth-round tie against Oxford United, while Day was handed a three-match ban after his professional foul on Craig Conway.

Following that, Day also missed out on a trip to Liverpool in last season’s third round following County’s defeat to Plymouth Argyle.

However, today gives the 27-year-old a great opportunity to help the Exiles claim a place in tomorrow's draw for round three of this term’s competition.

Cambridge United, 13th in League Two, tackle County at Rodney Parade (kick-off 2pm) with similar hopes of mixing it with the big boys of the Premier League in the next round.

“We know what can happen in the third round,” said Day. “We know with the club being fan-owned that it’s a massive opportunity to make some money.

“We know the importance of that and we will do our best.

“It’s a League Two team we’re up against so there shouldn’t be too many surprises for us, but we’ll prepare like we do for every game and go for the win.”

Looking back on last season’s loss to Plymouth, he added: “A few of us who were here have already been speaking about how we just missed out on the third round.

“It was gut-wrenching but I’m hoping that will drive us on.”

And speaking about that Blackburn dismissal, as well as what a good cup run would mean, he said: “It was at the end of the match against Blackburn and we were chasing the game.

“There was a through ball and I made a rash decision to come out and take the player.

“But these things happen, especially as a goalkeeper when you’re the last man.

“If you make a mistake, especially with a tackle, it usually results in a red card.

“That’s all in the past and we can only focus on what we do against Cambridge.

“They’ve recently enjoyed success in the cup against Manchester United and I’m sure they’ll be wanting to repeat that.

“We want a taste of that. Everyone wants to have a good FA Cup run in their career and say they played at such and such a stadium.

“It’s our opportunity to possibly play the big boys to show what we are capable of and the FA Cup is really the only chance we’ve got to do that.

“We’ll try and beat Cambridge and then look forward to the draw on Monday.”

Day reckons that the Exiles are now better placed to potentially cause a cup shock should they progress to face a Premier League or Championship club.

And when asked who he would like to have a crack at, he said: “For me, it would be Manchester United away.

“The other lads might say Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester City, but Old Trafford is a massive ground with a massive history behind it.

“When I first signed for Peterborough we got to the play-off final at Old Trafford but I could only watch from the stands.

“I was looking at the pitch thinking, ‘yeah, I want to play on there’.

Meanwhile, former County manager, general manager and director of football Tim Harris has quit as boss of National League South side Gloucester City.