Fulham manager Marco Silva may have a record of taking Fulham to the latter stages of cup competitions, but he is taking the Emirates FA Cup one game at a time.
This year’s campaign will start with a Third Round tie against Championship side Watford, our gaffer’s former employers.
“We have to go step by step,” Marco explained to the press. “But yes, we want to go as far as we can and the furthest is the last game of the competition.
“Two seasons ago we reached the Quarter-Finals. Last season, we reached the Carabao Cup Semi-Finals too. Of course, we are not in the Carabao Cup anymore and I told the players in today's session that (we need) top ambition in this competition.
“I think all clubs, they should look at the FA Cup in the way it deserves because it’s a historic one. It’s a competition that, in this country, everybody loves, and the last day of the competition, the Final, is something unbelievable.
“If you can participate as a football player or as a manager, I think it’s one of the greatest moments that you can have in this country.
“Of course, we have to go game by game. Now it’s Watford and we want to go in with full ambition that we can beat them to be in the next round.”
Marco was at the Hornets helm from May 2017 to January 2018, managing their current boss Tom Cleverly.
“The impact was incredible straight away but after a bad spell in terms of results they changed things. I still have connections with some of the players and some of the staff, and it's a good feeling when you have an impact on the people.
“One of the good examples is the manager that I'm going to face tomorrow. First of all, he's a great guy. I'm really pleased to see him doing well as manager. Tomorrow, let's hope we can beat them, but I’ll always be supporting him and wishing him the best.
“We analysed them. We played against them last pre-season as well, although they're slightly different now.
“If you want to analyse and give feedback to our players, it's not going to be easy to give just one because they have been changing formation between games. But we're going to be aware of everything.”
Progression on Thursday night would extend Fulham’s unbeaten run to nine games, although six of those results have been draws.
“We are competent, we are a good side, we have a clear identity of how to play and we are really competitive. For us to be competitive at this level, we have to have all of these things in the same box and show quality week in, week out.
“Some draws should have been different and should be wins and three points, but the reality is that we have been tough and not easy to beat. Let's hope there's much more to come.”