VETERAN striker Colin Little is backing Altrincham to produce a huge shock and dump Millwall out of the Cup - whether he's playing or not.

The former Crewe and Macclesfield ace, who celebrated his 35th birthday on Sunday, is struggling to shake off a rib injury he sustained after scoring the goal at Kendal which earned Alty Saturday's big date with the Londoners.

Little admits he'll be deeply disappointed if he's forced out of the Millwall clash but nevertheless believes it's not beyond his team-mates to win without him.

He said: "Hopefully, I'll be OK and this is a game I'd love to play in but, if I'm asked if we can beat Millwall either with or without me, then, yes, I think we can.

"Anything's possible in a game of football and especially so in the Cup. If Millwall don't play as well as they can and we perform to our very best, we must have half a chance.

"Despite our problems at home this season, big teams don't seem to like coming to Moss Lane and we'll soon sense it out on the pitch if one or two of the Millwall lads don't fancy it.

Upset

"They've been struggling like ourselves in the league, but all the pressure in this tie is on them. An early goal for us would really throw a spanner in the works and, particularly if that were to happen, I honestly believe we could go on to deliver an upset."

Little, who, 12 years ago, was a member of the Hyde United team which lost to Darlington in the first-round of the Cup, is philosophical about the prospect of him missing out on another chance to be part of a major non-League giant-killing act.

But he's excited nevertheless to finally be experiencing something of Altrincham's great Cup tradition, adding: " It's great for our fans that we're back in the first-round after an absence of several years.

"And, because of Altrincham's history, there's definitely a higher level of expectation here than perhaps at any other non-League club in the land when it comes to the Cup.

"A lot of our supporters would swap 10 defeats in the league for a single Cup victory and I don't think that's the case at too many clubs. Hopefully, we can give them what they're looking for tomorrow."

Colin Potts and Gareth Whalley are definitely out while Val Owen is anxiously awaiting the results of a scan on the damaged knee which has sidelined him for weeks.

Do you think Altrincham will upset the odds? Have your say.