With the sprinkles of magic rhetorically in shorter supply by the year in the build-up to every edition of the FA Cup, there's often a perception that followers of the Premier League's aristocrats treat the road to Wembley as little more than an afterthought.
But from an Irish perspective, this weekend's third round offers an opportunity to catch a glimpse of a select number of players from the English lower leagues involved in high-profile fixtures that could lead to a giant-killing or two.
Not least on Monday night when former Republic of Ireland midfielder Conor Hourihane looks to pull off a coup with Barnsley as they head to Anfield for the daunting task of taking on Liverpool.
The Corkman is in his first full season in management and after a bright start to the season when they briefly hovered in the upper echelons of the League One table, results have dipped, particularly in recent weeks when they have lost four and drawn one of their last six games.
That run has left Barnsley 17th, although they do have games in hand and are only three points outside of the top half.
But the prospect of facing Liverpool, even as difficult as that might be, may provide a welcome distraction and opportunity to reset from the rut that Barnsley have been in over the festive period.
Hourihane has a core of Irish players within his squad to call upon and has even added to it in the last few days.
His fellow Corkonian, the ex-Celtic defender Eoghan O'Connell, has just joined from Wrexham on a short-term deal and Hourihane told the Barnsley Chronicle that the 30-year-old "will definitely be involved" against Liverpool, while the versatile former Ireland under-19 wing-back Corey O'Keeffe has been recalled from a loan spell at Stockport County to give what his head coach views as "real flexibility".
Versatility was also an attribute that former Shamrock Rovers and UCD winger Neil Farrugia had in spades in the League of Ireland and while he has only made two starts in League One this season and hasn't been called upon since a defeat against Mansfield Town on Stephen's Day, he has been a regular in cup competitions, including playing 90 minutes apiece in Barnsley's two FA Cup fixtures to date.
The Liverpool match would have also been notable for the Merseyside-born club captain Luca Connell. Capped for Ireland from U17s to the U21s, the boyhood Everton fan did get called up once by the seniors in 2019 as a teenager but had to pull out due to injury.
In the interim, he has become a cornerstone at Barnsley since signing for them in 2022 from Celtic, where he had never really had a look-in, amassing over 100 appearances for the Tykes.
But a straight red card in Barnsley's last outing against Wigan on New Year's Day means he will miss the trip to Anfield.
However, ex-Ireland forward David McGoldrick, who played alongside Hourihane at international level and, at 38, is four years his boss's senior, could feature at some point against Liverpool as the squad's elder statesman and one of the few with real top level experience. Indeed, he has vocally embraced the role of father figure whether he is starting or just part of the matchday squads.
Barnsley are not the only League One club with an Irish contingent prepping for elite Premier League opposition. Troubled Exeter City will be away at Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.
The club is enduring financial issues and had requested that their hosts offer a larger portion of the gate receipts for the cup game but that will not be happening per The Guardian.
On the pitch, there is a similarity to the predicament Barnsley are in with Exeter's Irish club captain also absent for the third round.
Pierce Sweeney, who started his career at Bray Wanderers back in 2012, is suspended for the Man City game due to bookings incurred in the first and second rounds.
It's a blow for the club and the Dubliner who has made over 300 appearances for The Grecians as he enters his testimonial year.
"It's disappointing for him but he's still got a big part to play in our preparation, how he helps the team and he'll obviously travel with us as well, so he's still got a big role to play," Exeter manager Gary Caldwell said on BBC Radio Devon.
However, Cavan native Jake Doyle-Hayes, who spent the first half of last season at Sligo Rovers after leaving Hibernian, is in line to make an appearance.
The former Ireland under-21 midfielder has been a regular starter for Exeter when available and also weighed in with an assist in their FA Cup second round win over Wycombe last month.
Former Cobh Ramblers midfielder Charlie Cummins is also on the books at Exeter but was on a short-term loan at Weston-super-Mare in the National League South until this month but whether he's included in the matchday squad remains to be seen for a player who's been on the fringes.
Elsewhere, Conor Shaughnessy and Franco Umeh - brother of Ireland under-17 World Cup starter Jaden - are part of the squad at Championship side Portsmouth who will grapple with Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
But whether the latter will be involved is a different matter, with Umeh only coming into Pompey's matchday squads since the middle of last month and Shaughnessy has just got back into action after missing a couple of months in the first half of the season following a hamstring issue.
Most intriguing though with March and the next Ireland squad for the World Cup play-offs in mind will be Conor Coventry, in light of Josh Cullen's ACL injury.
With the the Burnley club captain's serious setback impacting an already shallow pool of options in central midfield for the Boys in Green, the likes of Coventry could shift their statuses within Heimir Hallgrimsson's depth chart.
Coventry made his senior debut as a substitute in the famous 2-0 win over Portugal in November and at club level, the 25-year-old former Under-21 stalwart has been a nailed-on starter for Charlton Athletic, which makes him very likely to be heavily involved when the Addicks host Chelsea on Saturday night, and that will be an opportunity to show what he can do against high-calibre opposition.
