The third round of the Cup is a great chance for a small club to bring a bigger one down to size. David Lacey wonderswhat are the chances it will happen this year

No round quite captures the spirit of the FA Cup so much as the third. Here, the corner shop takes on the supermarket and occasionally steals a bit of trade. This weekend, little clubs, lesser clubs and bigger clubs on hard times will hope to jolt the equilibrium of the Premiership.

They will be motivated by a mixture of pride, financial necessity and a general desire to add a bit of spice to the season. The Cup has never been shockproof. Therein lies its basic appeal.

But a major upset is overdue.

It is 13 years since Coventry City, who had won the FA Cup two seasons before, wandered down Gander Green Lane in a leafy south London suburb and were knocked out by Sutton United.

A Premiership side have yet to fall to non-league opposition although Dagenham and Redbridge came within four minutes of beating Charlton Athletic at the Valley a year ago.

Now, the Cup will again look to Dagenham to maintain its tradition of disturbance to the Richter scale. This afternoon, provided their pitch has thawed out, the Conference side will seek to reproduce against Ipswich that combination of teamwork, tenacity, organisation and concentration which so nearly did for Charlton.

Survival in the Premiership is Ipswich's sole ambition and, while George Burley will be aware of the fillip that a good Cup run can bring, he knows his team cannot afford to get bogged down in replays.

Ipswich, therefore, will be looking for victory rather than avoidance of defeat, which may give Dagenham more attacking opportunities.

Canvey Island, the other non-league team to reach the third round, are not up against Premiership opposition but have what is arguably a more daunting task.

Frost permitting, the Islanders (with Julian Dicks if fit) will this afternoon take on Burnley, riding high in the first division, at lofty Turf Moor and, if ever there was a place for Essex man to show what he is made of, this is it.

Ipswich may not be the Premiership side most at risk from the lower orders this weekend; far from it.

When the draw for the third round was made some of the longest faces were worn by the followers of West Ham United, for whom a tie at Macclesfield's Moss Rose awoke familiar misgivings.

For Macclesfield, buried deep in the third division and haemorrhaging cash like drunken sailors, the result will be less crucial than getting the tie played on schedule tomorrow, with TV coverage on BBC 1 and the cash that goes with it.

Logically, West Ham should not lose, yet they have slipped up in similar circumstances too often for this tie to be regarded as a foregone conclusion. Their fans probably felt more optimistic travelling to Old Trafford last season.

Chelsea supporters will arrive at Carrow Road this afternoon accompanied by the same sense of foreboding. Having seen Claudio Ranieri's team knocked out of the UEFA Cup this season by Hapoel Tel Aviv, it will not take much imagination to envisage Chelsea falling to a revived Norwich City in the FA Cup.

Much will depend on what hat Chelsea decide to wear: the workmanlike cloth cap which has taken them to the semi-finals of the Worthington Cup and produced emphatic wins against Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United in the league recently, or the battered Bud Flanagan boater which is only good for laughs.

Norwich, with 10 wins at home in Division One and only one defeat, are more likely to cause one of the day's surprises than Watford, managed by Gianluca Vialli, Ranieri's predecessor at Stamford Bridge.

Under Vialli, Watford still have their good days, but Arsenal will have to suffer a particularly bad one if they are to lose at Vicarage Road.

With the leading Premiership clubs, much will depend on the attitude their managers take towards the FA Cup. The championship is Arsenal's prime aim and, though part of Arsene Wenger may wish to redress the disappointment of losing to Liverpool in last season's final, he will not want Cup matches compromising the run-in. And, of course, Arsenal are still heavily involved in the Champions League.

The same goes for Manchester United, who will want to win what is potentially the tie of the round at Aston Villa tomorrow but would be aggravated by a replay, and Liverpool, whose recent loss of form in the Premiership will strengthen Birmingham City's hopes of getting something from their tie at Anfield.

Leeds United have an equal interest in an unusually open championship as well as maintaining a presence in the UEFA Cup but David O'Leary's need for a trophy, any trophy, will surely embrace the possibility of appearing in the Millennium stadium on May 4th.

Had Cardiff City been able to persuade the FA otherwise, Leeds would be getting a sneak preview tomorrow. Instead, Leeds will take on the second division side at Ninian Park in a tie they should win, although they may need a replay.

The three Premier League teams most seriously at risk would appear to be Everton, who take their losing streak to second division Stoke, who generally rule at the Britannia stadium; Blackburn, a dodgy proposition at Barnsley; and Leicester City, whose season may be none the better for the visit of Mansfield.

 - Guardian Service