Bruce would love to emulate his dad

By Derek Davis

ALEX Bruce would love to emulate his dad Steve when it comes to FA Cup glory.

The Town defender can vividly remember the time that going to Wembley was almost an annual event for the now manager of Wigan Steve Bruce.

As Manchester United captain Bruce lifted the trophy twice and insisted Eric Cantona lifted it a third time in six years, while tasting the defeat the year before to Everton managed by Joe Royle (the last Englishman to manage an FA Cup winning side you know.)

Bruce the younger had a taste of FA Cup glory while on loan with Oldham when they beat Manchester City with Scott Vernon scoring the only goal at Boundary Park.

He said: “It was only my fifth game and we managed to beat Manchester City who had Sylvain Distin and David James were in that team, so hopefully I can take a little something from that game into this cup match.

“It was a bit special for the fans, and for me as a Man Utd supporter. I had taken a couple of mates who were city fans so you can imagine what they were like after - there faces were a picture.”

Not surprisingly as a young boy Alex remembers the train journeys and post match parties, better than the actual matches.

He said: “I loved it all. I was only young but I can remember the trips down on the special trains that Man United ran for the families of the players and the staff.

“I can also remember the parties just about and seeing my dad go up the steps.”

With the big four dominating the final over recent years, with Millwall the exception after getting to the final at the Millennium Stadium only to lose the Alex Ferguson's side, it is a dream that only a select few achieve.

Bruce said: “You can ask any kid and it was their dream to play at Wembley.

“To see you dad be successful is what you want to achieve for yourself and I still want that now.

“People say it is only the big clubs that get there but it can be done. You just have to look at Millwall who were in the Championship to see it can happen.”

Although Portsmouth have been hot on their travels, scoring 18 goals while winning eight of their past nine away matches, Town have kept five clean sheets in seven games during an unbeaten 17-game streak at home stretching back to last march when Southend were the last team to beat them.

Bruce said: “We can take a lot of heart from those clean sheets and our home form in general. An FA Cup win against a Premier League side will give us a huge lift and we are already on a high after beating the league leaders West Brom. It just shows how football is full of highs and lows because we were rock bottom after Coventry but now we are on a massive high again and will take that into the Portsmouth match.”