December
Newsfile

Newsfile Archive

Rio Ferdinand was asked for his comments on Earnshaw and the game

"Yes, I have heard about Earnshaw. I can't say I know a great deal about his style of play, but I have seen enough and heard enough to know that he is a good prospect. I'm sure he has a bright future. If he wants to get further on he has to play well in all games, but this is a big chance for him to play well and I expect him to be out to prove himself. But I am looking forward to the game too. In football you have to pit your wits against all sorts of players at all sorts of places. And there will be plenty with a lot to prove on Sunday.

But this game is about far more than just certain players, it's a big one. We know Cardiff are a solid team. They are a big club with a big fan base. I have played in Wales before against Swansea in the Cup when West Ham got a bit of a shock. I remember there was a hell of an atmosphere down there and this is going to be another stern examination. We're up there to be shot at but we have to do what we've been doing lately, scoring goals and not conceding many."

City have a former Premiership defender in Spencer Prior. While Ferdinand has to look out for Earnie and Gavin Gordon, Spencer Prior has Mark Viduka and Robbie Fowler to contend with.

"Scary isn't it," says Prior

"I saw Fowler's goal against West Ham on TV the other night when he chipped the goalkeeper." Looked as if he scuffed it a bit to me. Didn't really mean it, did he!" Prior says jokingly.

"No, Fowler for £11m. I reckon Leeds have got a steal. Okay, David Beckham is worth a fair few bob, but other players are going for much more than £11m. That sum of money is not a lot these days for a centre forward - particularly one with the proven record Robbie Fowler has got. From the days when he first broke into the Liverpool team, Fowler was the best finisher in the country. He remained the best out-and-out finisher, even with the emergence of Michael Owen. He is sheer class - and he proved that against West Ham."

City skipper Graham Kavanagh has painful memories of the last time he played against Robbie Fowler. At the time Fowler was at Liverpool when they visited Stoke for a League Cup game. Fowler scored 4 of Liverpool's 8 goals when asked if Kav remembered it he said

"Remember it... I don't want to remember anything about it. I want to forget it! We had beaten Liverpool 1-0 in a pre-season match and quite fancied our chances of turning them over in the Cup. By the end of the match we had been beaten by eight - it was demoralising. Fowler was simply unstoppable. I hope he's not as good today."

Kavanagh is optimistic ahead of todays game

"I think we can win, although obviously they are hot favourites. Ask the Wimbledon team who won the FA Cup back in 1988, and they will tell you everybody said they couldn't win. But they did. And Alan Cork was a big part of that so he knows what it takes to cause an upset. We are at home, we're in front of a full house, we're on TV. Lots of our players want not so much to put themselves in the shop window, but certainly to impress Lennie Lawrence. We haven't won for four matches, but confidence hasn't taken a knock. What we have learned from recent games is that if you create chances in a match, you have to take them. Against Bristol City last weekend, and in games with Reading and Blackpool, we had two or three more opportunities than our opponents. Yet we didn't win any of the games. We've been working extra hard on that during training this week, doing lots of crossing and finishing. Hopefully some of it will pay off in the Leeds match - and we can cause an upset."

Leeds boss David O'Leary is remaining level headed going into the game. O'Leary has been on the receiving end of a cup shock in the past. He was in the Arsenal team that were beaten by Wrexham, you know the match, Mickey Thomas' free kick. O'Leary says

"I certainly wouldn't want a repeat, but it is possible.

We have had to roll up our sleeves and take on the world recently, so Cardiff City will be just another challenge. Just about everybody has been having a go at Leeds United. It seems I'm constantly putting out fires here. But we certainly won't be coming to Wales feeling sorry for ourselves. Once again it will be a case of going into a game trying to prove everybody wrong. We aim to do that. I know we're going to be under siege at Cardiff and that the football world is waiting for us to fall flat on our faces. The drawbridge is up - and we're ready for anything they throw at us." We're coming to Wales with an `Everybody is against us' attitude. But then that's been the case anyway for the past few weeks - and we've still managed to win our matches. This is slightly different, inasmuch as it is the FA Cup and we're playing a Division Two team."

Speaking about Sam's claims that Cardiff are bigger than Leeds O'Leary smiled and said

"Although the way the Cardiff chairman has been talking, what with saying his club is bigger, if we win maybe we have pulled off the David v Goliath upset!"

O'Leary though is coming to Cardiff to win.

"We know we have to just keep on doing things our way. My three years as Leeds manager has already been a great education. I've never had a smooth run, although obviously it's been particularly tough in recent times. But we're top of the Premiership - and I hope to start an FA Cup run in Cardiff today which also finishes in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium next May.

This is what the FA Cup is about. People expect the Premiership team to win, but over 90 minutes in front of a partisan crowd, lower division clubs raise themselves. My message to people is that we're coming down there to win. I want to finish this off at the first time of asking because, with modern day fixture congestion, the last thing we need is a replay. I will put out my full side and we will go at Cardiff from the first whistle. If that gives them a chance, in terms of leaving us slightly vulnerable at the back, so be it. My plan is to go out and win the game, rather than do anything to particularly nullify Cardiff. Maybe when I get a bit older I will be less cavalier as a manager. But this is just the way I am. I want to take on people head on - and that's what we'll do today."