Tonight the U's look forward to avenging the FA Cup quarter final defeat of March 1990, when a Geoff Thomas goal ended our first of two successive rampages to the quarter finals of the competition.

Each club has had some extreme ups and downs since those days and John Taylor is the only survivor of that encounter, but for both clubs it is a chance to put aside the stresses of the league campaign and aim for the potential financial rewards of a place in the next round.

Roy McFarland has indicated that new signing Jason Kavanagh will make his debut at right back after training with his new side for a week. This releases Ian Ashbee for a return to midfield, where the competition for places has increased considerably.

Playmaker Alex Russell (right) played his second game for the reserves on Wednesday after two months out with a thigh injury and intensive treatment at Lilleshall, and he is sure to play some part tonight. However in the Cambridge Evening News he warned supporters not to expect too much from him at first.

"A lot of fans expect players to pick up exactly where they left off when they come back into the side," he said. "But when you are out as long as I've been you lose match fitness and coming back at this stage of the season, you are going in against players at peak fitness.

"It's almost like starting the season again, but without the pre-season training everybody else has had. You can do so much in training sessions while recovering from injury, but it's only playing matches that will get you back to the level you need."

Adding to the competition for places, Scott Paterson has also played two reserve games and can provide cover in midfield and defence, while Tom Youngs scored a superb goal for the reserves against QPR on Wednesday and may have played his way into the picture for tonight. Neils Mustoe and Mackenzie, plus striker Michael Kyd are the men thought to be under most threat.

Speaking to Will Jones for U's Net, McFarland said yesterday, "Kavanagh will certainly play on the right side, and without doubt Alex Russell - provided he doesn't get any adverse reaction - will be involved, certainly on the bench. I think it is obvious that we need to look at the system, and change it a bit. That is what I will be looking to do. The team spirit is excellent. They are full of it, and still together."

In tonight's CEN he adds, "I don't want Palace to know all of our plans too early on, you need every little bit of advantage you can get in matches like these. Palace are from a higher division, but we see it very much as a match in which we can make progress, and hopefully get a big-money tie in the fourth round.

"We didn't produce our best against non-League teams in the previous two rounds, but we will have to in this one. "Palace have some good strikers, so what we have to do is keep them on the back foot and take the game to them. We get a great atmosphere in the Abbey for Friday night games, there will be a bigger than average crowd, and it has the makings of a very good Cup tie."

For visitors Palace, a cup run would also provide a welcome diversion from league action and off the field troubles. Their strikers Matthias Svensson and Leon Mckenzie, who scored against us last season while on loan at Peterborough, are in good form with eight goals in their five games together, although the Eagles will be without influential loanee Terry Phelan of Everton.

Their boss Steve Coppell told the CEN, "It's the worst draw we could have had, a difficult-looking tie from which we won't make the kind of money we need at the moment."