For West Ham’s second string, barring a shock defeat this could barely have been a more uncomfortable afternoon. With the captain Jarrod Bowen among a clutch of regulars given a breather, it was Crysencio Summerville, a late substitute Nuno Espírito Santo would have rather kept fresh, who spared embarrassment at Burton Albion and helped them into the FA Cup fifth round. Four years ago at Kidderminster, in this competition, it was Declan Rice who entered to save their skin and it was a similar story here, Summerville’s extra-time strike preventing penalties.

West Ham squeezed through, Freddie Potts’s red card 11 minutes into extra time for crunching into the Burton substitute Julian Larsson ensuring a nervy finale, in which another sub Kain Adom skittled a stoppage-time shot against the side netting. For Gary Bowyer, Burton’s colourful head coach who was wearing boxing gloves when he greeted his squad in the dressing room, a nod to a theme adopted through this Cup run, they almost landed a knockout blow.

Bowyer made filling his players with belief his primary objective, empowering them to bridge the 47-place gap between the sides...