City are in for bumpy ride on Orient Express

DARREN PRATLEY may be a precious fossil from English football's Jurassic age but he knows the game inside out raptor and verse.

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From bread rolls being tossed around set-piece drills in hotel dining rooms, to the manager who jumped into a river for a swim to inspire his players, the Leyton Orient captain thought he had seen it all after more than 720 games in all four divisions.

But when the O's take on Manchester City for the first time in 59 years in the fourth round today, it will be one of the biggest matches of his life.

Pratley turns 40 in April and Father Time need not bother sending round the bailiffs to call in his debts yet.

If City, whose £175million outlay in the latest transfer window was almost more than all their Premier League rivals put together, pitch up expecting a stroll in the park, super-fit Pratley will give them a tour of Brisbane Road from box to box.