AFC Wimbledon v Millwall: The FA Cup tie neither team wanted as giant-killers meet at Kingsmeadow

If the FA Cup is a competition most loved for its giant-killings, then Millwall are its best proponents.

In the entire history of the world’s oldest cup tournament the Lions have produced 25 giant-killings – defined as victories over a top-flight side by one in a lower division – the joint most alongside Southampton.

And while you would need a long memory to recall many of them, Millwall’s prowess remains fresh due to their recent exploits: in the last seven years they have won five of their seven ties against Premier League sides, reaching the quarter-finals two years ago by beating three in succession.

The most recent upset – a 3-2 win over Everton last month – may not have been the most notable of an exciting fourth round, but it continued a happy record of beating the odds for the south east London side.

After Murray Wallace’s 94th-minute winner hit the back of the net, home fans’ thoughts must have turned to the fifth-round draw and who their next victim could be. Manchester United? Chelsea? Fierce London rivals West Ham?

Unfortunately for them, they weren’t the only side to produce a shock. AFC Wimbledon thrashed the Hammers 4-2 to reach the fifth round for the first time since the club re-formed in 2002 and leave opposing manager Manuel Pellegrini “ashamed” of his players.

The victory means that rather than another team from the higher reaches of English football, both London teams are left with a less romantic, but more winnable tie this weekend: against each other.

“I was speaking to Bomber [Millwall manager Neil Harris] earlier in the day and we both said: ‘Blimey, we don’t want each other’, but that’s the way it’s turned out,” said Wimbledon boss Wally Downes after the draw.

“Two giant-killers are playing against each other: they knocked Everton out and we knocked West Ham out. It’s a different dynamic for both of us in the next round. All of a sudden now, Millwall are the giants.”

With Millwall a division higher in the Championship they will indeed assume the role of the favourites against Wimbledon of League One. In recent years it’s not only a tag they’ve been unfamiliar with, it’s one they have struggled with too.

In the time they’ve achieved famous wins over Premier League sides Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Watford, Leicester and Everton they’ve also been defeated by lower-league opponents Southend, Bradford and Rochdale.

In a sense, then, it’s a tie neither wanted. And with Saturday’s game the only one of the eight ties not being shown live on television, it seems the two teams weren’t the only ones. The rewards on offer are enough to energise Harris, though.

“It’s a draw that you could look at and get excited about because it gives you the chance to progress,” he said. “Wimbledon will look at it – and they probably fancied a big game – but they got Millwall, a team they don’t quite fancy in the FA Cup because they know we’ll be right at it. There’s enough excitement in it because there’s a place in the quarter-final at stake.”

Both sides may have more important concerns – Millwall are just three points above the relegation zone and five league games without a win, while Wimbledon are seven points adrift at the bottom – but the financial factor of the FA Cup isn’t insignificant.

Although they have missed out on the £250,000 which comes from being televised, the winner will still earn £360,000 in prize money for reaching the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Wimbledon also have the incentive of battling Doncaster – who host Crystal Palace – for the £200,000 on offer to the League One team that goes furthest in the competition.

When a healthy £720,000 is available for winning a last-eight clash, the value of an FA Cup run to those outside of the riches of the Premier League becomes even clearer.

“There’s more prize money at stake and it’s really important for us, looking forward to trying to recruit in the summer,” Harris admitted, after failing to bring in a striker in the January transfer window. “Every penny counts. It’s not something the players will be considering but the club certainly is.”

Yet the FA Cup is about more than the money. The main focus may be the league, there may not be much history between the two teams, but this is still a local derby and there is still plenty on the line.

Expect a keenly fought contest at Kingsmeadow on Saturday afternoon.