050505
G
ood afternoon and welcome
to Craven Cottage for our
Emirates FA Cup Third
Round tie against Southampton.
A warm welcome to the visiting
supporters and directors from
Southampton who have travelled
from the South Coast today and
to Mauricio Pellegrino and his
backroom team.
There is some respite from
league action with the FA Cup
this weekend as we entertain
Southampton from the Premier
League. The FA Cup competition is
one of the most famous domestic
cup competitions in the world and
the Third Round weekend provides
plenty of excitement for supporters
up and down the country.
In my view, there’s no other
football competition that can rival
the tradition of the FA Cup. We’ll
be giving the FA Cup the respect it
duly deserves by applying ourselves
properly and, while there will be
some necessary changes to the
line-up due to the number of games
recently played, we’re keen to do
well and progress.
I can be satisfied with our form
from the festive period coming
into this afternoon’s match. In the
four matches played during the
past fortnight, we’ve gathered 10
points out of 12. Our victory against
Ipswich Town on Tuesday evening
was deserved and enabled us to
record a fourth straight win at the
Cottage, which is great news for our
confidence in the second half of the
season. We’re really grateful to our
fans for always getting behind us;
your support has made us stronger
here at home.
We created many chances and
played a very good first half against
Ipswich, but disappointingly
conceded a goal at the stroke of
half-time.
We fought back in the second
half, helped, of course, by Ipswich
playing with one player less.
However, we were the better
team even when it was XI v XI.
Tuesday’s game was one of the best
performances from my side this
season. The team was industrious
and moved the ball very well and
fully deserved the three points to
add to the haul accumulated over
the Christmas period. This puts us
in a good position to challenge for
important targets this season.
Today, we have an opportunity
to test ourselves against quality
Premier League opposition in an
early round of the FA Cup. Whilst we
can’t make too many comparisons
with last season, the team can take
plenty of encouragement from last
year’s FA Cup Fourth Round victory
at the Cottage against Hull City who,
at the time, were also a Premier
League side.
As always, we’ve researched our
opposition and prepared in detail
for the game and we’re aware of the
quality within the Southampton
ranks. In fact, both teams should
know each other well having played
in behind-closed-doors friendlies
on two occasions this season
at Southampton’s Staplewood
Training Ground in the October
and November international
breaks. These matches were good
opportunities to provide minutes for
some players who hadn’t featured
so much this season. Unlike these
friendly matches there’s something
firmly at stake today in progression
to the Fourth Round and I’m sure
you’ll see the team competing hard
to try to win.
I can be satisfied with recent
performances and results and I
thank you for all your support
during these matches. There’s still
a long way to go this season and it’s
important to remain grounded and
to carry on with the right focus and
motivation. We’re ready for another
tough challenge this afternoon.
Thank you for your support.
Slaviša Jokanović, Head Coach.
The gaffer is looking forward to pitting his wits
against Premier League opposition...
HEAD COACH
“Tuesday’s game was
one of the best
performances from my
side this season”
v
HEAD COACHHEAD COACH
vv
Slavisa JokanovicSlavisa Jokanovic
‘
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