I’ve always loved the FA cup. I find it nostalgic and it reminds me of when I was a young lad, watching the likes of Steve Heighway in the final. Whole saturdays from 11am spent watching the build up and the coaches arriving.                          It was always a massive event.

Of course it’s been massively devalued now after the years of the big clubs, beginning with United, treating it with total disdain and always playing the second string in the early stages. In fact it’s been so devalued it hardly counts if one of the big boys win it.                                                                                                    I still regard it highly though.

The trouble is, now our squad is currently so weakened, I think it’s a competition that is going to prove too much of a distraction. Don’t get me wrong, nothing has changed in the way I view the FA cup, but we already have two massive priorities to cope with, in qualifying for the Champions league or winning the Europa league to qualify through that route. There’s already too much of a dilemma there and I’m asking myself if we can afford too much energy in trying to win this cup too.

I never thought...