Sumrith 'Tiger' Thanakarnjanasuth writes in the programme for tonight's Carabao Cup third round tie against Manchester City:
Good evening everyone and welcome to what we hope is a fantastic game against the champions of England.
Manchester City are a great team but also a club that has taken football in this country to another level. If you are a City fan coming along tonight, then I hope you enjoy your visit but our real aim has to be to show what Oxford United is all about.
I do not mean on the pitch where I am sure the players will wear that yellow shirt with pride and give it everything. There are no false expectations there: we know the scale of the task ahead of us. But we will play to win, of course, because there is always a chance no matter the odds against you.
But I think it is a chance to show off what we have here at the club in a wider sense. We want a Sea of Yellow, with fans wearing the new shirt or maybe their lucky shirts from previous years, maybe the ones they wore for the cup wins over Newcastle and Swansea during the promotion year, or perhaps a replica of the shirt we wore when winning this competition at Wembley back in 1986. This club has a proud history and we are celebrating our 125th anniversary this year - be sure to join us against Shrewsbury next month when many of the stars of the past will be joining us for a celebration of that landmark.
So much work goes into a game like tonight and I would like to place on record my thanks to the backroom team who have worked so hard to make it happen. The safety team and our secretary Mick Brown have put in place very detailed plans to try and help with the transport and parking, the Commercial team have sold all the hospitality packages, the ticket office has worked so hard to help us sell out every available seat, the shop has been extremely busy with the shirts and scarves. It has been a real team effort even before we get to kick off and I want to thank all the staff for this.
On the pitch we had a hugely frustrating afternoon on Saturday against Walsall but that game is gone and we certainly cannot afford to feel sorry for ourselves against the quality of opposition we face tonight. Instead we have to show a reaction and show passion. We will get things right in the league; we are making progress but obviously need to turn that in to wins, especially at home where our form has been poor. But for tonight we can forget those things just for 90 minutes. Instead we have the spectacle and the drama of 90 minutes in front of a packed stadium against one of the best teams in the world.
Enjoy the game.
Tiger
You can read the full programme online at www.matchdayfix.com/oufc.