Manager John Sheridan has written a prescription for plenty of hard work ahead of tonight's FA Cup battle against Cheltenham Town at Boundary Park.

Athletic and the Robins will go at it again after Sheridan's men came from two goals behind to secure a draw in a hard-fought encounter at Whaddon Road.

World TV: Sheridan targets Cup progress

New manager Martin Allen has improved the situation in Gloucestershire and his side put on an impressive first-half showing against Athletic in the first game.

A weekend defeat at Hereford followed, but Sheridan is fully aware his side will have to fight tooth and nail to ensure Cup progress on home turf tonight.

He said:  "You know what you are going to get from Martin Allen's teams.  They work very hard and get the ball forward quickly so were are going to have some defending to do at points.

"But we're at home and we will be concentrating on taking the game to them.  Hopefully we can get on the ball more and cause them problems.  Whoever plays is going to have to work very hard to get the result we want.

"The FA Cup is very important financially for a club like ours.  We want to go as far as possible - obviously we're not going to win it but the Everton game came along last year and obviously that stands out.

But the Latics chief has a depleted squad to choose from with both Lee Hughes and Darren Byfield unavailable.  Meanwhile both Deane Smalley and Danny Whitaker are struggling with injuries.

"Deane's got a bit of a problem high in his hip which has been causing him a bit of discomfort, but I'm hoping he'll be available for the game," Sheridan revealed.

"I'll have to have a look at the squad and see who's available because one or two players are struggling with little knocks.  After seeing how they are I'll pick a team and formation which I think will cause Cheltenham problems."