WORCESTER City captain Carl Heeley will banish some painful FA Cup memories tomorrow when he leads his side out against Rushden & Diamonds for the biggest match of his career.

Injury has twice robbed the defender of FA Cup ties against Football League opposition but now it is a case of third time lucky.

Heeley is set to play against Rushden in front of a 4,000 crowd at St George's Lane and make up for the disappointment of missing matches against Bolton Wanderers and Torquay United.

As a Sutton Coldield player a knee injury deprived him of the chance to play at Burnden Park while a fractured cheekbone ruled him out of the Torquay tie three years ago.

"These games don't come along very often but when they do you can't wait for them to start," he said.

"It's probably going to be a sell out and a big day for us.

"When you play in the qualifying rounds this is what you aim for to draw a Football League club and then you start dreaming about whether you can pull off a shock."

After years in the game taking the highs and lows Heeley is understandably relishing the prospect of facing Brian Talbot's high flying Third Division side but will also spare a thought for injured striker Mark Owen.

"My injuries were very similar to Mark's in that we both sustained them in the FA Cup qualifying rounds," he said.

"He is going to be devastated and it will be very difficult for him.

"To a certain extent you think it is the end of the world but you have to remain positive because your chance will come again.

"This is probably the biggest game of my career and I'm really looking forward to it."

City have been hit by injuries to key players but Heeley still thinks they have a chance of pulling off an upset.

"Realistically it is going to be difficult and it would be great if we had a full squad available especially Mark Owen who has scored most of our goals.

"The important thing is that we do ourselves justice. If we play to the top of our ability then we have a chance in the tie especially if we catch them under par.

"You can guarantee there will be three or four shocks in the round and let's hope we are one of them."

A few tickets are still available for the match and will be on sale from 10am-12.30pm at the club reception.