OXFORD United missed out on a glamour tie in the Emirates FA Cup third round draw – but Karl Robinson believes a trip to Brentford offers a big opportunity.

Wins over Forest Green Rovers and Plymouth Argyle got the U’s into the hat with the Premier League big guns.

A money-spinning tie would have been a timely boost, but instead they were paired with the Sky Bet Championship outfit.

It prompted memories of their last meeting, when Michael Appleton’s then League Two side stunned Brentford with a 4-0 League Cup win at Griffin Park in 2015.

And boss Karl Robinson believes his side have a chance of replicating the upset.

He said: “It’s a draw where we can certainly compete with Brentford.

“If you look at their results recently I think there’s only one or two where they’ve had a decent result.

“It will be a difficult ask for us, but it’s an opportunity to get through to the fourth round.”

With United visiting Plymouth in League One on New Year’s Day, the big hope was to avoid another long trip in quick succession.

Robinson said: “The ones you don’t really want are those where you’ve got to travel quite a way and it’s a Championship team that you know will be a difficult ask.

“But it’s down the road, so it’s a great opportunity for the fans to get there without a massive outlay.

“We’re happy with it.”

Brentford have struggled since Dean Smith’s departure for Aston Villa in October – and the third round tie will be boss Thomas Frank’s first taste of the Cup as a manager.

Robinson added: “They have players to respect, but they will certainly make changes with a manager who probably doesn’t know the English leagues very well.

“He will maybe look at us with a bit of disrespect, because all over the world if you play a team from a league below very rarely does the higher team get beat.

“But we all know in this country there’s always an opportunity and we’ll go there with a hope of getting into the hat for the next round.”

The clash is unlikely to prove too much of a distraction in the meantime, with seven games scheduled before the game in west London, which will be played over the weekend of January 4-7.