CURRENT Bafana Bafana midfielder Dean Furman will be tasked with keeping former national team skipper Steven Pienaar quiet when his Oldham Athletic side host Everton in the FA Cup tomorrow.

Furman's all-action displays as a holding midfielder in the recent Nations Cup tournament won him praise around the country, but it is a role he has filled for Oldham for four seasons. So respected is he at the club that he was made captain of the side two years ago, at the age of 22.

He will likely be tasked with tracking Pienaar, who has been the main creative influence for Everton this season and in the form of his life, according to his manager David Moyes.

"I'm really looking forward to this game because Everton have to come to us and it's not an easy place to come and play," Furman recently told reporters. "I have not met Steven so I am looking forward to playing against and meeting him."

Pienaar has missed just one of Everton's 26 league matches this season.

Oldham defeated Liverpool 3-2 to reach the fifth round of the competition, a match played while Furman was in SA, and they could complete an impressive Merseyside "double" with victory over Everton too.

Everton are one of the most successful sides in FA Cup history with five wins, but last lifted the trophy in 1995. Pienaar was part of the side that appeared in the 2009 final, but lost 2-1 to Chelsea.

Oldham are unbeaten in five previous FA Cup meetings with Everton that have yielded three wins and two draws. They also knocked The Toffees out of the competition in 2008.l See opposite page