Fulham v Rotherham United - Leam Richardson on the dedication required for Millers to produce FA Cup shock

It was the third time in a row the Latics had knocked their near-neighbours out of the FA Cup – most famously winning the 2012 final – but the first time as a League One side.

City, who had Bradford-born Fabian Delph controversially sent off in the first half, did not take it well, Pep Guardiola losing his temper in the tunnel at half-time and Sergio Aguero with pitch invaders at the end.

As pitches get better and the gap between the haves and the have-nots wider, it was a reminder that Cup fairytales do still happen.

On Friday night, Leam Richardson will try to do it again.

For his Rotherham United team, bottom of the Championship, to knock out a Fulham side who beat Arsenal in the Premier League on New Year's Eve would not register quite as high on the Richter scale as that night when he was Wigan's assistant manager.

But given the Millers' precarious position and the fragile green shoots of recovery which poked up over Christmas with a win over Middlesbrough and draws with Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers, it could arguably be even more important.

And with the Millers manager, romanticism is always laced with pragmatism. He speaks less about the magic of stepping out at famous grounds like idiosyncratic Craven Cottage with the quaint old building that gives it its name sandwiched between stands in keeping with it, and one massive modern stand emerging at a snail's pace, and more about the graft needed to compete with a team who exploded into life under former Hull City coach Marco Silva in November and December.

"The FA Cup has got fantastic history, it's where people dare to dream of the big ties, the finance, to go as far as you can to test yourself against the best players and the best coaches," says Richardson, who would go on to be Latics manager.

"I've been fortunate to be involved in quite a few (shocks), notably at Wigan when we beat Man City 1-0 in the FA Cup. I've been in various cup runs against Premier League teams and we do know it starts with a lot of hard work and sometimes a bit of hard work.

"We'll do well to trump that one but we had to work hard on that night and it'll be no different on Friday.

"If you put the work in and you're diligent in what you do and you're very mindful to play with expression and that belief in what you want to do around a football pitch you'll always try and create that opportunity."

He will be leaning on what he learnt that night in Lancashire five years ago.

"It's not every day you're up against Pep Guardiola and a plethora of international footballers," he says. "It was fantastic with the lead-up and how we were trying to combat all their strengths.

"The game probably panned out as best it could with a 1-0 win. We had to ride our luck at times.

"The atmosphere was fantastic, the goal (from Will Grigg) was very good, and there were some very good performances on the night. It's just another one of those FA Cup memories that will live with people for a very long time and it was great to be part of it.

"You use all your experiences, that's why they're experiences, to either be better next time or try to build on what you believe in and use the strengths you had at the time.

"You can lend your experiences and push forward other people's experiences as well."

If it is a big night for the players, it is for Richardson too, who had 13 months out of the game after being sacked at Wigan before re-emerging at the New York Stadium a little under a month ago.

"I've been in the game a long time, doing it 14 or 15 years, so to have a little break was good both personally and professionally," he says.

"The FA Cup brings aspirations and belief. You want to be playing, managing and coaching against the best and that's what the FA Cup can bring you."

Forgot the dream stuff, a win in London should do wonders for the confidence of a team in a very competitive relegation battle since new managers came in at Sheffield Wednesday and Queens Park Rangers.

Rotherham are improving too, says Richardson, who hopes to accelerate that with some shrewd transfers.

"I've been very open, very receptive, very honest, so moving forward it will be more of the same but it goes without saying we've run with very small numbers and we know the challenge of the Championship so if we want to evolve as a football club we need that competition for places and that quality of player," he says.

"But the information we've got over in a short time with a small group is commendable. You've got to be aware of the group you've got and their attributes and get the best out of them.

"I think we've done that over the last handful of games and moving forward we will try and progress that."

So by all means dream your dreams, but Friday will be as much about gritty reality.