GILLINGHAM have been paired with a familiar foe in the FA Cup third round draw after being handed a home tie with Sheffield Wednesday.

The two First Division sides, who play each other at Hillsborough in the league this weekend, have met on two other occasions in the cup over the past nine years, with honours even.

Although the Gills would have preferred a glamorous clash against one of the top Premiership sides, Andy Hessenthaler is happy with the draw.

He said: "Of course you hope to get Manchester United or Liverpool, or someone like that, but if we win this tie there's always the chance of doing that in the next round."

Gillingham have a reasonably good record over Wednesday in recent years and knocked them out of the FA Cup at the fifth round stage in the 1999-2000 season with a 3-1 home win.

The third round tie will be played on the weekend of January 4-5, 2003.