27 January 2008
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Fifth Round Proper
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Having lifted the trophy twice in his career, Tottenham Hotspur stalwart Chris Hughton is in a better position than most to reflect on the magic of The FA Cup and despite Spurs’ exit from the competition in the Fourth Round, he remains intrigued by this weekend’s Fifth Round ties.

Spurs were considered unfortunate to find themselves on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Fourth Round and with the Reds now going on to face Tottenham’s north London rivals Arsenal at the next stage, it is amongst a number of mouth-watering ties which have caught Hughton's eye.

With two of the favourites for the competition now certain to be knocked out, Hughton is looking forward to seeing how The Cup story will unfold.

“The big game of course, is the Manchester United and Arsenal one and I think it was perhaps no surprise when it came out in the end as it has done before,” said Hughton.

“That means that one of the big clubs is going to go out and of course, that gives everybody optimism throughout the competition as everyone believes they have a chance.”

The gallant performance of Havant & Waterlooville in their tie with Liverpool at Anfield served as a perfect example of how the difference in league standings can be pushed aside in The FA Cup. That is one of the reasons why Hughton remains enamoured by the competition.

“What we saw up at Liverpool with Havant & Waterlooville shows that the magic is still there. If anybody at any stage was thinking that the glamour of The FA Cup had gone, then they only had to look at Anfield the other week,” he said.

“There is still a lot of optimism and hope for clubs, because of what we have seen with some of the Premiership sides going out.

“Probably the thing that is most exciting is the fact that there are more Championship sides at this stage than there has been for a while.”

Hughton, who made nearly 300 appearances for Spurs as a player and only left White Hart Lane earlier this season after more than 14 years on the coaching staff, has been able to see plenty of football at all levels over the last few months thanks to scouting and media work and he thinks he knows the formula needed for teams to cause an upset.

“I think the gulf is getting bigger between the Premiership and the Championship,” he admits.

“But there have been examples, not many, of Premiership teams putting out lesser sides in the competition. But on the whole, when you look at the sides that the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United are putting out, it is nigh on their best elevens.

“It’s The FA Cup though and it’ll never change.

“In a one off, 70 to 80 percent of the time the stronger team will win. But on the other occasions teams can ride their luck on the day and with the lesser team and lesser players, still come out winning.

“I think you have to have that hope and of course, the luck.”

So who does Hughton think will eventually run out as this year’s winners of the trophy?

“I think it’s always hard to look outside of the bigger sides,” he explained.

“So that’s your Arsenals, Manchester Uniteds, Liverpools and Chelseas who are still in it.

“But as we saw with Millwall a few years ago though, it’s always wonderful when a team from outside the ‘top four’ gets into the Final and that could happen again.”