JOE Rothwell is hoping he gets the chance to win back his place in the Oxford United side as John Lundstram serves a suspension.

The skipper will sit out tonight’s visit to Macclesfield Town in the Emirates FA Cup after picking up a fifth booking of the season last weekend.

It leaves a void in midfield and Rothwell has his fingers crossed he gets the nod to play, after a virus ended a lengthy run in the XI.

He said: “Lego (Ryan Ledson) has come in and done really well, I’ve no complaints about him keeping his place.

“It’s my turn now to do that with Lunny suspended, if the manager picks me.

“I’ve not started in the FA Cup before, so hopefully I do get picked to play.”

“(The illness) took it out of me, especially when I came back and trained for the first couple of days.

“I was struggling, but I feel good again and I’m raring to go.”

Moss Rose is only 25 minutes from where Rothwell grew up in Greater Manchester.

And the former Old Trafford apprentice is likely to be well-supported if he does start against Macclesfield.

He said: “I’ve not really mentioned it to anyone, but no doubt my dad will have told everyone.

“There might be a few turn out, we’ll have to wait and see.”

He added: “When I did leave these are the type of games I wanted to play in.

“There’s a bit of pressure on you to do well because a lot of people will be watching.

“They are the games you want to play in as a professional footballer.”