Bristol Rovers v Fulham
The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Third Round Proper Replay
7.45pm, Tuesday 22 January 2008
The Memorial Ground
Winning clubs will receive £40,000 from The FA
Click here to see the fixtures



The Memorial Ground in Bristol could be the place to go for a shock in The FA Cup Third Round replays this week as Premier League strugglers Fulham face Bristol Rovers following the battling 2-2 draw the sides played out at Craven Cottage.

Fulham are on a dreadful run of form, having not tasted victory in over two months, while Paul Trollope's League One side have won three of their last four league games.

Trollope spent five years at Fulham as a player and his goalkeeper Steve Phillips is clearly excited by the prospect of defeating top-flight opposition and earning a Fourth Round tie at the winner of the Barnet-Swindon replay.

"I will say the old cliche - they won't fancy it, will they?" laughed Phillips. "They're a quality outfit and they've got players who can hurt you, so we aren't going to take anything for granted with them coming back to our place, that's for sure.

"What are they in for? A terrible pitch! It's ultimately a rugby pitch. It's not the best grass to pass it on, but we like to pass it, so it's not good for us either."

"We'd obviously like to (cause a shock) but I'm not going to stick my neck out and say definitely.

"They're a class outfit and have some very good players. But you ask our chairman what he would have wanted and he would have said a draw because of the revenue.

"The income is fantastic for the club. Let's hope we get in the hat for the next round."

While Rovers are determined to cause an upset, Fulham are equally confident of gaining a morale-boosting victory that would turn around the fortunes of Roy Hodgson's side, who are second bottom in the Premier League.

"We're looking forward to this game. It's a big challenge for us but we're going there looking to get through, simple as that," said centre-half and stand-in captain Dejan Stefanovic.

"It's going to be very difficult, but we need a couple of wins as soon as possible and then we can go from there.

"We can't give up. We're still searching for our first win to come along and it's going to happen soon, hopefully against Bristol Rovers."