Oxford United coach Andy Melville says a third-round FA Cup tie at Sunderland would be a day the players would remember for the rest of their lives.

The ex-Wales international – capped 65 times – who played 238 games for the Wearsiders from 1993-1999, says the prospect of playing at the Stadium of Light is a huge incentive for Oxford to win next Tuesday’s second-round replay at Barrow.

“I had a really good time up there – six years. I really enjoyed it, it was very successful and I’ve got some good friends up there,” he said.

“It’s a big incentive now for us to go up to Barrow and try to get a victory.”

Melville (pictured) admitted his phone was red hot after last Sunday’s televised draw was made, pitting the winners of Oxford and Barrow with the club where he won two titles.

“Yes, I had a few texts and calls about it,” he admitted. “The banter was flying around for a couple of days.

“Obviously, there’s a big game before that and we’ve got to make sure we do the job right on Saturday first.

“And I know it sounds boring, but we’ve got to see Barrow off first before we can think about Sunderland, and it’s as much of a good incentive for them as it is for us.”

Asked what it was like to play for Sunderland, Melville, now 41, said: “The fans are magnificent.

“When I first went there it was Roker Park, then obviously the Stadium of Light. The stadium’s great, the crowd’s big, it’s a fantastic atmosphere.

“If we could get to that stage, it would be a great experience for our lads, something they would never forget.

“They’re eighth in the Premier League. It couldn’t really have been a much better draw for us. But Barrow will be saying the same things.”

Melville has great personal memories of his time in the north-east.

“We won the Championship twice up there.

“We had a really good team – Niall Quinn, Kev Phillips . . . and we got over 100 points one season, absolutely dominated and only lost three games.

“When I was at the Stadium of Light, we were getting 46,000 every home game and the place was absolutely buzzing.

“I would have thought there’s going to be 25,000-30,000 if we get to that stage because the fans up there will just turn up, whether it’s Premier League opposition or Conference. They just live for football.

“It’s a different world up there. I’ve heard people go on about this and that local derbies, but the people up there are just so passionate about their football.

“They work hard all week and look forward to their football all week. They’re just football-mad.”

However, Melville cautioned: “I think it’s going to be a very hard game in the replay.

“We’ve been to Barrow already this season, it was tough.

“They most probably think, ‘oh, we’ve got them at home, back at our place’, but if it’s 11 v 11 – and hopefully stays that way – we’ll go there and give it a good go.”