David Gold claimed this evening that the FA shocks of this afternoon will have a greater impact on the West Ham players than any pep talk Sam Allardyce can give them.
DG sat at home this afternoon watching like most of us in disbelief as Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs were kicked out of the FA Cup.
And he told ClaretandHugh: “It’s a massive warning of what can happen and the players will be sitting in their hotel saying: “We can’t let that happen to us.”
And he roared with laughterwhen he declared: : “Of course, I’m absolutely heartbroken for Tottenham Hotspur!”
“It will help that we have set our stall out since pre-season as far as this competiton is concerned – it has always been very high on the priority list but everybody inside the club and every player will be aware of what can happen if we are not bang on our game after today.
“I believe we have learned our lesson in the past. We will put possibly our strongest team out and so long as we are at our best we can get the result.
“It’s all about Wembley – we want to go to Wembley for the semi-finals and the Final and with these massive clubs now out of the competition our chance is clear.
“There’s a balancing act for the players – they can see the chance but must make sure they don’t suffer the same fate. They will be prepared and ready,
“It will be an exciting and I believe a winning afternoon in Bristol. We can’t fail.”