THEY were the last two teams out of the hat – and neither got what they wanted.

But if the Emirates FA Cup third round draw failed to deliver a big fish for Oxford United and Rotherham United, it only adds to what is at stake tomorrow.

The Millers will be expected to progress as the higher-ranked side, but the Sky Bet Championship strugglers are only 13 places above the U’s in the pyramid.

In short – both sides will go into the game knowing they have a great shot of going through.

“That’s got to be the motivation,” U’s boss Michael Appleton said.

“We were all hoping for a really big tie in the third round, as were Rotherham.

“It didn’t materialise, but Rotherham will know they have a great opportunity of picking out one of the big boys in the fourth round – and so have we.”

While a trip to a second tier side, even one 12 points from safety, could never be viewed as straightforward, it is far less daunting than the challenge which faced the U’s last season.

On that occasion a 3-2 third round win against Swansea City saw them make waves on a national scale.

Progress tomorrow would still go down as a surprise, but nothing like as seismic.

When it came to discussing the chances of an away win, Appleton reckons they rest on the way his players approach the game.

He said: “I’d rather be playing them in the position they’re in now rather than if they were doing well in the Championship.

“But if we turn up with the same mentality we had when Blackburn came here (a 3-0 defeat in last season’s fourth round) we’ll get murdered, end of story.

“If we have the same mentality as we’ve had in the last three games and Swansea last year, then it should be a good game.”

The cup competitions often prompt a raft of changes from Championship sides, who can view them as an unnecessary distraction.

But Appleton reckons Rotherham’s perilous position will have the opposite effect and is fully expecting to face interim boss Paul Warne’s strongest line-up.

He said: “They will be desperate to get a win.

“If they win on Saturday their confidence would be lifted.

“Then if they pull a big name in the fourth round there’s a feelgood factor about the place.

“If I was in Paul’s shoes I’d be reiterating those type of messages to the players.”

He added: “We go in with confidence and knowing we’ll have to perform defensively as we have in the last three games and make sure when we get opportunities we don’t squander as many as we did (in the 1-0 win at Gillingham) on Monday.”