Efe Sodje is calling on the town of Macclesfield to help them create a little bit of cup magic this weekend.

Macc are to take on Swindon Town,  a side riding high in League One, in the first round proper of this year’s FA?Cup.

And a fortnight after their 7-0 humbling of Vauxhall Motors the boot’s now on the other foot with Macc tipped as massive underdogs against the Robins.

But the age-old magic associated with the cup is alive and well and John?Askey’s assistant wants the town to turn out and see them go all-out to create an upset.

“It’s all about what happens on the day, it’s about going man-for-man with our players against theirs,” said Sodje. “We tell our players to win their own battles – then they’ve done their job and that’s all we ask.”

Macc and Swindon were drawn against each other at the same stage of last year’s competition, a tie that the Silkmen won 2-0.

This match promises to be every bit as tough with Swindon seventh in the third tier, but Sodje says that, win or lose, there’s likely to be goals galore.

“They scored five goals on Saturday and let two in and we won 3-2,” he added. “So there could be a lot of goals and it should be great entertainment.

“We can score goals, so this could be a big upset.

“It’s a great competition to be part of. I was at Crewe when we played Everton in the fourth round in 2002 and they had a great team. We went to Goodison and drew 0-0 against a team with people like Paul?Gascoigne, David Ginola, Kevin Campbell –  some really good players.

“We lost the replay but it’s something I always remember and it’s the same for the fans – it’s the FA?Cup and it’s massive.”

As a Moss Rose legend Sodje is used to shouldering the underdog tag but he’s calling on their ‘12th man’ to cheer them on to victory, adding:?“We are Macclesfield Town – everyone knows we have a low budget and we need the fans’ support. We’re on a good run and we can keep it going, there’s no reason why we can’t do that on Saturday.

“Yes, we need their gate money but it’s their support we really need.”

Macc welcome Swindon to the Moss Rose this Saturday in round one of the FA Cup – kick-off is 3pm. For ticket details visit mtfc.co.uk