ORIENT boss Martin Ling is hoping a good FA Cup run could aid the east Londoners promotion chances.

The O's open their account in this year's competition with a home first round tie against Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

And Ling, who only saw his side denied a return to the summit of League One on Tuesday night by a 94th minute injury time equaliser at Swindon, has recalled how an excellent FA Cup run help inspire his troops to League Two promotion in 2006.

He said: "It is nice to get a break from the league sitting comfortably in third place and we are all looking forward to the FA Cup game now with Bristol Rovers.

"I will certainly be fielding my strongest team, because you only have to look back to the run we had when we won promotion from League Two to see what benefits a good cup run can have.

"Of course it was great for everyone connected with the club to play two Premiership sides in Fulham and Charlton on that run and having beaten one and only been denied a replay against the latter in injury time it gave my players lots of confidence to go on and win promotion.

"The other thing those games gave us was big injection of finances and it certainly enabled me to go on and finish a job we had already started, because I was able to go out and pay a transfer fee for Paul Connor.

"I don't want to count my chickens before they have hatched, but it would be nice to think that we might have a glamorous third round tie waiting for us in January.

"Then if I do need to top things up I can go to the chairman and say there is money coming in from that angle.

"So it isn't always about the glory of the FA Cup, because financially I can give teams like us a chance to compete on a more level playing field in our own league."

The Orient manager is however fully aware that despite a 3-2 victory over Rovers in the League at the end of September that will count for nothing on Saturday.

He added: "Yes of course we know a bit more about them because they are from our league, but even with what has already happened this season it doesn't really matter.

"We have all been there before in the FA Cup, where anything can happen in a one off tie and I don't expect it to be any different on Saturday.

"They had been on a bit of a poor run, but they beat Northampton 1-0 on Tuesday night and so will come into the game with a bit more confidence now."

Ling is still set to be without Clayton Fortune (shoulder), while striker Jabo Ibehre (ankle) is also a major doubt. However, midfielder Sean Thornton returns from a four match suspension.