FA Cup: ‘Getting Chelsea would be like taking on Barca’

JOINT chairman Mark Lawn admits Bradford City and Millwall now have a “huge incentive” to 
triumph in next week’s replay 
after the winners were last night handed a trip to Chelsea in the 
FA Cup fourth round draw.
Bradford City joint-chairman Mark Lawn.Bradford City joint-chairman Mark Lawn.
Bradford City joint-chairman Mark Lawn.

The Bantams, if they can negotiate next Wednesday’s replay at Valley Parade, will visit Stamford Bridge on the weekend of January 24-25.

It is one of several potentially intriguing ties for Yorkshire football in a draw that saw Sheffield United designated a trip to Preston North End and Middlesbrough a visit to Manchester City.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Doncaster Rovers, if they can see off Bristol City in an Ashton Gate replay, will host the winners of tonight’s third-round tie between Everton and West Ham United.

The draw means there will be added spice in next week’s replays for both Doncaster and Bradford.

“What a huge incentive for both ourselves and Millwall,” joint Bantams chief Lawn last night told The Yorkshire Post.

“Chelsea are the best team in the land and it would be a wonderful day for our fans if we could go through.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“For a team like ourselves, it would be like taking on Barcelona. That is the standard that Chelsea are at and I am sure our players would love to pit their wits against them.

“I’d expect that prospect to inspire our players in the replay.

“Equally, though, Millwall have a huge incentive. There is a massive rivalry between Millwall and Chelsea, and I am sure that will be in their minds next week, too.

“With that in mind, I hope as many of our fans can get down to the replay as possible. That support could be crucial, as we still have a massive job to do.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Millwall are a Championship team, at the end of the day, and we will have to be at our best.”

Meanwhile, one of only two White Rose teams definitely through to the fourth round are facing a potentially punishing second half of the season.

Sheffield United’s exploits in battling through to the Capital One Cup semi-final, where they will face Tottenham Hotspur twice before the end of the month, and the FA Cup fourth round means they will play a minimum 59 games this season.

However, should they progress further in either of the cups or reach the play-offs, Nigel Clough’s men will be edging towards the 64-game marathon season that Bradford endured in 2012-13.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

That, of course, ended happily for the Bantams, who clinched promotion in the League Two play-off final. But City did suffer a sticky patch during the early months of 2013 that yielded just two wins in 13 league outings.

A similar run for the Blades, who occupy sixth place in League One but are just a point clear of the chasing pack, this time around could leave Clough’s men struggling to make up ground in the promotion race.

However, Marc McNulty, the scorer of United’s first goal in Sunday’s 3-0 Cup triumph at Premier League Queens Park Rangers, insists the South Yorkshire club do not fear a fixture backlog.

He said: “We have got some great games coming up and some really important ones. We will be playing twice or three times a week for quite a long while now.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“But we have got the squad to cope because there is a lot of quality in that squad.”

Taking on Preston, who Clough’s men coincidentally meet this weekend, in the fourth round means the League One fixture against Rochdale will have to be postponed and re-arranged.

United also still have to find new dates for last Saturday’s scheduled trip to Notts County and the home game against Scunthorpe United that fell victim to snow on December 28.

In contrast to their Cup heroics, Clough’s side have been in 
indifferent form in the league with the past two months having yielded just one win and seven points from eight games.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

This has allowed the top four to break away from the Blades, but McNulty believes the two stirring cup runs can inspire a turnaround in the club’s league fortunes.

He said: “We have got the same belief in the league. That is the key in the cups. We have got it in the league, too. It is taking a while to click but we will do it in the league, I am sure about that. We are working very hard to make sure it happens soon.

“That is one of the things behind us doing so well in the cups. We always believe we can do it.

“There is a confidence that comes from results and also from the beliefs and ideas instilled in us by the manager. He tells us what he wants us to go out there and do.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

United meet two of the four teams that have charged ahead at the top of League One before attention can turn again to Cup football and the January 21 first-leg trip to Spurs. Preston are due at the Lane this Saturday before Clough takes his men to Milton Keynes Dons a week later.

McNulty, who last started a league game on October 21, is hoping to retain his place in the United attack and add to his tally of nine goals. He said: “Of course I would love to play every week. But the manager knows best and he picks the team.

“I respect his decisions totally because he has been there seen it and done it, just like his staff have. They know what is best for my development and to make me a better player.”