Manchester United’s Chris Smalling admits that the clubs confidence is on a high as they travel down to London to face West Ham United in the FA Cup.
Manchester United have not won the FA Cup since beating Millwall back in 2004 and Smalling knows how much this competition means to the club.
United have come close to winning the FA cup though in the past nine-years, losing on penalties against Arsenal in the 2005 at the Millenium Stadium and then two-years later losing to a late Didier Drogba goal for Chelsea at Wembley.
Smalling says a that a successful FA Cup run is high on the players priority list this season, speaking with manutd.com he said:
“We’ve haven’t done too well in the cup in the last few years and the manager has made that point to us, we need to make sure we get back on track in the competition, especially as the league is going well and we’re into the Champions League knock-out stages. We want to do well in the cup as well.
“The FA Cup has always been a massive competition. You’ve got the situation where lower league teams have the chance to play some of the top sides and it can be a real adventure for a lot of sides. We’ve not got an easy game, but I’m sure it’ll be a good, competitive one.”
This evening United face West Ham at Upton Park, and Smalling is expecting a testing encounter down in London.
“We expect a tough game. When I saw the draw I thought it wasn’t the easiest one we could have had, but it’ll be a good atmosphere and Upton Park is always somewhere I’ve enjoyed playing,” he added.
“Sam Allardyce has done very well and got a good team together. The fans really get behind them, especially at Upton Park, and that will make it more difficult for us compared to if we were playing them at home.
“It’s a tough draw for us, but you can end up playing anyone in the cup and you’ve got to beat everybody put in front of you. Hopefully we can put on a good show at Upton Park.”
