Brentford v Southampton
The FA Cup, Fifth Round Replay
01 March 2005
Griffin Park



John Salako has shown his Brentford teammates that dreams really can come true after the Bees were drawn against Manchester United in Quarter Finals of The FA Cup.

The Bees have earned a home draw against United in the last eight, providing they can beat Southampton in a Fifth Round replay next week. And experienced winger Salako, 35, predicted it on TheFA.com three months ago!

In an exclusive interview in November he urged his teammates to 'dare to dream' as they prepared for a First Round replay against Bristol City. And he revealed his secret hope was to eventually draw Manchester United and knock them out!

It seemed impossible at the time, and no doubt one or two people were secretly chuckling at Salako's ambition. But after Brentford's outstanding performance at St Mary's on Saturday, when they came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Premiership side Southampton, the Bees are on a high and believe anything is possible.

Under the guidance of impressive young manager Martin Allen they reached the Fifth Round by beating Bristol in that early encounter before also coming through difficult ties against Hinckley, Luton and Hartlepool.

The Southampton game at Griffin Park next week will be their fourth replay already in this year's competition, meaning Salako has played more matches for Brentford in this season's FA Cup then when he reached The Final for Crystal Palace in 1990!

On that occasion, of course, he was beaten in a replay by Manchester United - and that explains his dream scenario.

"To get through to the quarters and beat Manchester United, that would be something special wouldn't it?," he said.

"That would be real revenge! Every time I get near silverware Manchester United seem to ruin it, but maybe this is my one last chance. People will say we have no chance and they're probably right. But the great thing about The FA Cup is anything can happen.

"It's certainly a great incentive and makes the replay against Southampton even more special."

Salako does have one word of warning for his Brentford teammates, though. Because now they are daring to dream, he doesn't want them to get carried away.

"I know it will be on our minds but we have to forget about it for a while now," he insisted. "We have an important match against Hartlepool in the league on Tuesday and then Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. Getting promotion to the Championship is still the most important thing for this club.

"Fortunately we have got a manager who won't allow the players to lose focus. He's very good at that and I know he'll make sure we keep on winning."