JOHN Coleman may have been keen to avoid the F word this week, but he knows the prospect of a home draw against Premier League Fulham makes tonight’s FA Cup third round tie with Gillingham the biggest game of Accrin-gton Stanley’s season.

Accrington face the Gills tonight and, if a first appearance in the third round for six years was not motivation enough, the draw for the next round has since added spice to the fixture.

A home game against Fulham on Saturday awaits the winners, and for Stanley it would be a first visit to the Crown Ground by Premier League opposition.

Coleman is well aware of the stakes tonight – victory would also earn £67,500 in prize money, allowing the club to pay off a £50,000 debt to the PFA and lift their transfer embargo.

Coleman does not want his players distracted from the task in hand against League One strugglers Gillingham – even if he has not gone as far as a blanket ban on all mention of Fulham.

“We’ve got a good chance now to get into a fourth round and have a home tie against a Premier League side, which is as good as it can get,” said Coleman.

“I think all of a sudden it would wake the town up with regards to the FA Cup.

“But it’s pointless thinking about Saturday because we’ve got a massive game against Gillingham and that it where our focus has to lie.

“We don’t want the players to focus at all on Fulham, but we don’t have to go round forbidding things being said.

“The lads are much the same as me, they’re only interested in the next game.

“We’re approaching it like the biggest game of our season.

“It’s the chance to bring in a lot of money, which lends itself to strengthening your squad, which then lends itself to helping your league position. The simple thing for us is it would lift the PFA embargo because we could pay that off.

“You don’t know what’s around the corner with injuries and suspensions, so to have that safety net of being able to bring players in would be a big boost.”

Stanley will have to be flexible this week with three different scenarios awaiting them on Saturday.

If they win they will host Fulham in the fourth round. But a draw would result in a replay at Gillingham at the weekend, while defeat would mean a League Two fixture at Northampton.

The Reds have not played since December 28 because of the bad weather and Coleman knows his side may not be as sharp as the Gills, who have not won away all season and lost 3-1 at Swindon on Saturday.

“It will definitely be against us with regards to sharpness, but they’re coming on the back of a defeat so it’s swings and roundabouts,” he said.