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Match Preview - West Ham v Fulham

last updated Tuesday 24th February 2004, 3:33 PM

Fulham Manager Chris Coleman Fulham boss Chris Coleman has revealed that his players are keen to upset Manchester United at Old Trafford for a second time this season - this time in the FA Cup quarter finals.

The Red Devils would be the West London club's opponents in the last eight should they overcome London rivals West Ham United in their fifth round replay at Upton Park on Tuesday evening.

Should Fulham defeat Alan Pardew's Hammers, The Cottagers are looking forward to a second challenge at facing United in their own ground - having famously turned them over 3-1 in The Premiership back in October.

Coleman believes the prospect of facing United away again is motivation enough for his players to get the job done against West Ham.

"This replay is a massive game for us," said Coleman.

"The possibility of meeting Manchester United at Old Trafford in the quarter finals is enough motivation for any player to give it their best shot.

"We've been there already this season and got a great result. Not only that, but we fully deserved to beat them - so I was delighted when the draw was made.

"To play an FA Cup quarter final at the best stadium in the country is fantastic.

"Old Trafford is the carrot to get past West Ham, which will be hard because they're playing well at the moment."

The Welshman knows his side have not had the best form away from Loftus Road since the United win in October but feels his side have the chance to change that at Upton Park.

"Our away form since we were last at Old Trafford has been poor," added Coleman.

"Initially, we were playing with a bit of fire. We were stubborn and hard to beat.

"But lately, we've lacked that little bit of extra motivation and desire.

"We need to get that back into our game, and quickly, because we're dropping points."

"We are not realistically going to get relegated from the Premiership. Liverpool and Newcastle are chasing the fourth Champions League place but we have got a great chance to finish in the top six, although the top eight is more realistic.

"We also want to get as far as we can in the cup, but we won't do that if we continue to perform the way we have been because we have been below par for the last two or three matches."

Fulham, ninth in the Barclaycard Premiership, should prove too strong for West Ham but Coleman is refusing to admit his side are favourites to progress to the last eight.

"We like to go into matches as the underdogs and we normally play better that way, pulling something out of the bag," he said.

"And I believe we might be the underdogs against West Ham. If you look at their form and the fact they will be at home, then perhaps they are the favourites."

Fulham will certainly need to improve on their dire 2-1 weekend defeat by Wolves - a result which has helped make the last month a gruelling period for Coleman - if they are to progress in the competition.

"I took Barry Hayles off on Saturday but in reality I could have taken any one of seven players off, that is how poor we were," said Coleman. "I was asked if we should have finished with a point against Wolves, but we didn't deserve a draw.

"I have not enjoyed the last three or four games because we are not punishing teams like we should do. Of course it is up to me to get the players back on track, but the way they are playing is not good enough."

Fulham's reluctant sale of hit-man Louis Saha to United last month has had an impact on the club's recent form but Coleman believes his side still has talent.

"Of course, it doesn't help when you lose one of your best players. But we've drawn the line under that episode now," he said.

"It would be a cop-out to blame our recent form on Louis leaving. We can't use that as an excuse.

"I've got a good squad of players and we're under-achieving - it's as simple as that.

"We had to be realistic with Louis. There was a £12 million bid on the table, and it was in the best interest of the club to sell - so we had to do it."


Stats from League games
Upton Park
FA Cup Rnd 5 replay - 24 Feb 04
Pos West
Ham
Fulham Pos
Games Played 5 31 26 9
GOALS
Goals Scored 9 44 38 5
Ave Goals Per Game 1.42 1.46
Shots   341 287 7
% Goals To Shots   13% 13% 9
Shots On Target   131 140 4
% Shots On Target   38% 49% 2
Ave Shots Per Game 11 11
Ave Shots On Target Per Game 4 5
PASSING
Total Passes - - 9537 8
Ave Passes Per Game - 367
CROSSING
Total Crosses Made - - 500 18
Ave Crosses Per Game - 19
DEFENDING
Goals Conceded 5 31 37 11
Ave Goals Conceded Per Game 1.00 1.42
Tackles   - 882 1
Tackles Won   - 657 1
% Tackles Won   - 74% 3
Ave Tackles Won Per Game - 25
Clean Sheets   10 8 9
DISCIPLINE
Fouls   358 375 10
Average fouls per game 12 14
Yellow Cards 12 48 41 13
Fouls per Yellows   7.5 9.4 10
Red Cards 3 3
Figures in the Pos columns indicate position in League
Cipher stat flash
Fulham return to FA Cup football with a visit to Upton Park for the 5th round replay against West Ham.
  • West Ham, are scoring at a similar rate to Fulham but are less accurate in front of goal and convert less of their chances into goals. Jermain Defoe scored 11 of their goals before his transfer with David Connolly being their next deadly with 7 goals.
  • In overall defensive terms West Ham concede goals at a slower rate than Fulham. If they have a weak spot it appears to be at home where their form is not as good as in away games. They have lost 2 of their last three home games.
  • As far as fouls and cards are concerned West Ham have commit fewer fouls than Fulham have in the Premiership but get carded quicker than Fulham players.
West Ham are doing relatively well considering the uproar following their relegation from the Premiership and they provided stiff opposition against Fulham in the first game at Loftus road. The number of their players cup-tied and The Hammers poor home form could be the deciding factor.

Fulham
*
The only time Fulham have gone beyond the fifth round since their sole appearance in the final 29 years ago, was the season before last when they lost to a John Terry goal for Chelsea in the semi-final at Villa Park.
* Chris Coleman's side were knocked out by First Division opposition last season, when Burnley defeated them in this corresponding round 3-0 at Turf Moor in a replay, after a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road.
* Fulham have not won away since October when they beat Man Utd 3-1.

West Ham
*
West Ham have won the Cup three times, and are aiming to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since losing to Spurs three years ago.
* The Hammers are undefeated in their last four meetings with Fulham and have won their last three league and cup games this season.
* They have lost 3 in their last 6 home games.

Hammers Manager

Alan Pardew wants to repay the loyalty of West Ham's long-suffering fans by booking them a trip to Old Trafford with a win against Fulham in the FA Cup fifth-round replay at Upton Park.

Manchester United await the victors in a mouth-watering quarter-final for Hammers fans who stuck by their club despite the sale of so many crowd favourites in the wake of relegation from the Barclaycard Premiership.

Jermain Defoe followed a host of star names out of West Ham last month, but the Boleyn Ground has remained packed all season, and Pardew expects 9,000 to travel to Manchester if his side can beat Fulham.

He said: "It would be nice to go to Old Trafford in my first season in charge here. We'd certainly take a big allocation there, about 9,000. That's a great incentive for us to win it for them.

"But first things first, we've got a challenge against Fulham and we're excited. We're looking forward to the replay and we think it's an even tie.

"I was proud of our performance at Loftus Road and the players should be too. I hope they make us proud again."

The Hammers were only denied a Valentine's Day victory over their Premiership opponents by the heroics of Edwin van der Sar, who pulled off a string of saves to earn Fulham a replay with a goalless draw.

Pardew could be forgiven for thinking they missed their chance because of West Ham's frightening propensity to self-destruct at Upton Park this season.

The Hammers have struggled to cope with the pressure of expectation from a home crowd hungry for promotion, but Pardew insists this problem has been fixed in recent weeks.

He said: "Our away form is better than at home because we are expected to win at home. That puts the pressure on players and that has been a problem when you look at our results at home over the last 10 months."

source: P.A.
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