Oxford United believe it’s a case of Better The Devil You Know in the FA Cup this weekend.

Although the first-round draw was not the kindest, handing them a difficult away tie at fellow League Two side Burton Albion, manager Chris Wilder feels it’s better than a trip into the unknown.

The U’s have already visited the Pirelli Stadium, drawing their opening league match there 0-0 on August 7.

On Sunday, they will be hoping the FA Cup serves as a welcome distraction from the league, where they have slipped in recent weeks, losing four of the last five, the latest of which was Tuesday's 2-0 League Two defeat against Torquay.

Wilder said: “From a manager’s point of view, at least we know what we’re going into.

“We’re not going to some club that’s Step 4 or Step 5 and the pitch is rubbish.

“We know it’s a good stadium, there’ll be a good atmosphere, and we’re up against players we know a lot about. And they’ll know a lot about us.

“Ideally, we would have liked to have been at home, but these are the things you’ve got to handle.

“As always, the big thing is to get to the third round.

“We know that if we produce a performance on the day, we can get through.

“If we don’t, and it’s anything less than our best, it’s an opportunity for the opposition to win.

“It’s a game we can go to in confidence and try to produce a performance.

“Always for teams at our level, it’s about trying to get to the third round.

“If we have to go to Burton to do that, we have to go to Burton.”

It’s eight years since Oxford United last reached the third round.

That was in the 2002-3 season, when they beat Dover Athletic 1-0 away in the first, and Swindon Town 1-0 at home in a televised second-round match – also played on a Sunday – before facing Arsenal at Highbury and losing 2-0 in front of more than 35,000 fans.

In four of the last five seasons, the U’s have progressed to the second round.

Last year, they famously beat League One Yeovil 1-0 at the Kassam Stadium in the first round, thanks to Jack Midson’s 55th-minute winner, before Barrow knocked them out in a second-round replay.

Both Oxford and Burton will have different teams to the ones that locked horns back in August.

That was a game of few shots on target – just one to either side – and in general defences were on top.

“It was the kind of game you often get on the first day of the season,” recalls United defender Mark Creighton, who watched the action from the bench that afternoon.

“Both teams were feeling their way in.

“We could have had a nicer Cup draw because Burton are a decent team, and they are strong at home.

“But we know about them, and we haven’t got anything to fear.”

United’s side on the opening day contained Dannie Bulman and Jack Midson, and the on-loan Danny Philliskirk coming on for Midson midway through the second half.

The U’s have a generally clean bill of health.

Damian Batt making his first appearance since his ankle ligament injury, in Tuesday’s defeat by Torquay, and midfielder Simon Clist playing for the reserves in their friendly at Northampton the following day.