For the second time in his chairmanship, Ben Robinson is heading to Old Trafford with Burton Albion.

The Brewers have been drawn away to holders Manchester United in the third round of the Carabao Cup next month, 11-and-a-half years after their first trip to the Theatre of Dreams.

Back then, Albion were still battling to make themselves a force in the Conference and were more than three years away from finally breaking into the Football League.

Today, the Brewers are taking early steps into a second successive campaign in the Championship.

Burton Albion chairman Ben Robinson

By the time they travel up to Manchester in the week commencing September 18, they will hope to have a few more points on the board towards making it three years in a row in English football's second tier.

Alongside manager Nigel Clough , also in his current role back in 2006, Robinson is in a unique position to appreciate the progress Burton have made between their two Old Trafford journeys.

But while they may be in a better position to challenge the Red Devils this time around, Robinson is still just as excited by the prospect of seeing his club take on one of the world's biggest footballing establishments.

"After the game - and the great win - at Cardiff the other night, Nigel and I were sat together and we said it would be great to get a big draw now," said the Albion chairman.

"If you look at it over the last 11 years, we have had two great draws - Manchester United and Liverpool.

"Manchester United is the club that every club from the lower leagues dreams of.

"Even away from home, it should be a great money-spinner for the club, an exciting day out for the fans and a great occasion for the players.

"We are pinching ourselves all the time.

"If you look where we were (last time they faced United), we were in the Conference at the time.

Victory over Cardiff City on Tuesday helped Albion into the Carabao Cup third round against Manchester United

"Then since then we have risen, and we had that mighty season last season where Nigel and the players took some big scalps against big clubs.

"We go there knowing it'll be a tough task - they can field a second team and make it difficult.

"But the reality is that we have a much better chance than all those years ago, albeit with it still being against the odds."

Back in 2006, having seen their side hold Sir Alex Ferguson's United to a goalless draw at a bouncing Pirelli Stadium, around 11,000 Brewers supporters made the journey up to Old Trafford for the FA Cup third-round replay.

With Albion looking to make history and make it to the fourth round of the League Cup for the first time, Robinson hopes for another strong following next month.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks to get past Burton Albion's Andy Corbett in 2006

"We took 11,000 fans and 126 coaches up last time," he added.

"We hope so (for a repeat). Football fans like special occasions like this.

"Old Trafford has a special magic to it, it's not too far to go and like before, many people said to me that they regretted not coming to the home or away games.

"A lot of people who attended them have got great memories there, and this is a similar situation."