FA Cup giantkillers Macclesfield are eyeing another Premier League scalp after they were drawn at home to Brentford in the fourth round on Monday night.
The National League North minnows caused the greatest upset in the history of the competition by beating holders Crystal Palace 2-1 at the Leasing.com Stadium on Saturday, a team 117 places above them in the football pyramid.
Now John Rooney’s team have their sights set on Brentford, who sit eight positions above Palace in the top flight.
‘It’s incredible. To have the opportunity to play a Premier League club again is insane,’ said Macclesfield owner Rob Smethurst. ‘You can only dream of things like this.
‘You expect any Premier League team to come here and destroy us. The reality is I thought it would be over in the first 15 minutes against Palace; maybe three, four, five up to 8-0 and on. You look at Man City beating Exeter 10-1, and that’s probably what I expected.
‘But don’t underestimate us. Bringing Brentford back here on an astroturf pitch, it’s not something they’re used to. Look what happened to Palace. They brought their top guns. But our lads are fearless, like a band of brothers, and they’re going to be well up for it.
‘We’re a community club and it just goes much deeper. Everybody benefits, not just the club. I’ve had calls from pubs around the area saying they took more money on Saturday than New Year.’
Macclesfield captain Paul Dawson, who used his bloodied head to put the non-league side ahead against Palace, was serving pints in the club bar afterwards still in his kit and shin pads.
‘Another Prem club, the draw has been very nice to us again,’ said Dawson. ‘We might as well break our own record. We’ve done 117 places, so we can do 125.
‘I’ve not come down yet, I’m still on cloud nine. I’ve had a silly amount of messages so I’m just trying to get through them, as well as feeling rough and having a sore head.’
Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, the scorer of the decisive second goal against Palace, added: ‘We’re just glad we’ve drawn a Premier League club. Brentford have seen what happens regardless of stature.’
Another of the top ties sees Aston Villa facing Newcastle while Burton Albion are at home to West Ham and new Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior is up against his old club Hull City.
Newly hired Chelsea coach Liam Rosenior will take his team to second-tier Hull, one of his former clubs, while Manchester City was drawn to play Salford City or Swindon - lower-league teams who meet on Tuesday. Arsenal will host third-tier Wigan.
