If Steve Burr can mastermind another FA Cup upset on Sunday afternoon then Chester fans shouldn't be perturbed if the manager cuts his celebrations short.

In selecting the third round game with Barnsley for the FA Cup Final Score programme, the BBC made the club £12,500 richer but gave Burr a headache.

He had already bought tickets for him and his wife for The Who - his favourite group - in Birmingham on Sunday evening.

Regardless of how things pan out at Oakwell, Burr still hopes to get to the Barclaycard Arena in time to see Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend blast out tracks like My Generation, Substitute and Won't Get Fooled Again.

To paraphrase, he'll tip his hat, take a bow, smile and grin and then pick up his car keys and be on his way.

"I've got tickets for The Who on Sunday night so when the draw was made and they moved it to Sunday I was a bit worried," said Burr.

"The Who are my favourite band and they are on in Birmingham on the Sunday evening so I got a bit of earache from the Mrs over that but that's the only preparation really I've had to change round and I'm hopeful of getting to the concert at some point on Sunday night."

As both player and manager, Burr has experienced good times in the FA Cup and remains a true believer in the magic of the world's most famous competitioon.

He was part of a non-league Macclesfield Town team that developed a reputation as one Football League wanted to avoid, most notably routing Rotherham United 4-0 with Burr scoring three times.

His management career has seen him defeat Stoke City with Nuneaton Borough, take Northwich Victoria in the third round and last season he took Kidderminster Harriers to the same stage before his unceremonious sacking.

Burr told The Chronicle he still feels the same excitement as a manager around cup games he had in his playing days.

Burr said: "Yeah I do actually. You probably get more of a buzz

"I remember when we beat Stoke at Nuneaton and at Northwich we got through to playing Sunderland and those type of things do give you a buzz.

"I suppose as a player I was fortunate enough to score a hat-trick against Rotherham in the cup when Macc were a non-league side and there was Chester game which was shown on Match of the Day and they were special moments but you get the same type of buzz but in a different way.

"As a manager you're responsible for everybody and doing well for the team and the supporters and all that, and I suppose that's why it can get you more down as a manager than it did as player when we didn't win."

Steve Burr applauds the Northwich Victoria fans at the FA Cup third round tie with Sunderland
Steve Burr applauds the Northwich Victoria fans at the FA Cup third round tie with Sunderland

As special as the memories cup runs create for manager, players and supporters are, reaching the third round makes a significant difference to clubs financially too.

Unless you are Bob Gray, the income, both prize money and through attendances, that a cup run brings will not have been accounted for in the budget pre-season.

It relieves some of the pressure around the challenge of balancing the books, and more importantly for a manager often helps the playing budget stretch a little further.

"I was told in the summer that if we managed to get a cup run and raise some money for the club then some of that would be put towards the team so that was pleasing," said Burr.

"I look at the squad at the minute and we're doing well and we're improving but our aim is to try and get ourselves cemented in the top half but looking at it we need a few additions

"We ave lost Matty Hughes and Rhys Oates is not our player so we could to lose him but we need to improved and there's areas that I've targeted and it gives us chance now to look around and see what we can do come January."

But for the manager, his squad and the 2,000 or so fans that will heading to Oakwell tomorrow, thoughts of new signings will be far from the mind.

Chester have the chance to prove themselves against opponents from two divisions higher, to claim another Football League scalp and put themselves in the hat with the Premier League clubs.

Barnsley are the clear favourites to reach the third round but FA Cup fairytales, as Blyth Spartans found on Friday night, do happen.

Burr said: "Exactly. We go in there with nothing to lose and we want to go and enjoy it but we will enjoy it if we get a result.

"Barnsley have had a couple of indifferent performances at home but we know on the day it's the FA Cup and anything can happen. We will go and enjoy it and I'm sure the supporters will enjoy it.

"It's an opportunity and the highlights and stuff like that are being shown on the television and I think the lads look forward to that. We just want to go there and give a good account of ourselves.

"Ive been in this situation before when Ive been with teams that have done well and I've had other games where we've had a bit of hiding but I'm pleased at the minute with our performances on the park and some of our football is really pleasing at the minute and a pleasure to watch.

"We've had great backing all season and the travelling support and the home support has been terrific, and they can see that we are improving as a team.

"The FA Cup has got that bit of magic about it where people in Chester who would probably wouldn't go and follow their team its the FA Cup and it always brings out a few more and the more the merrier

"I know it will be a great atmosphere and I'm looking forward to walking out and seeing our fans there."