Midfielder Luke Hyam is hopeful he and his team-mates can put their recent FA Cup ‘nightmare’ behind them when they face Sheffield United at Portman Road today.
Hyam, who returned to first team action at Fulham following 19 months out injured, has yet to win an FA Cup game in a professional career which began in 2010, with the Blues’ last success coming earlier that year thanks to a 2-1 third-round win at Blackpool.
And Hyam is hopeful a win this season can kickstart a league campaign in which the Blues now trail the play-off places by seven points.
“It’s been a bit of a nightmare in terms of the FA Cup for us,” he said.
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“It would be nice to get through. We don’t know the team but whoever he puts out there will give 110 per cent.
“Hopefully a win can kickstart our season again.
“A nice cup run can improve your league form at the same time so if we win on Saturday we can kickstart things and hopefully get more wins.”
“I know the history of the club in the FA Cup and it means a lot to me, my family and friends, so it would be lovely to get that cup run going.”
Hyam will start against the Blades after suffering no adverse reaction following his brief outing as a substitute at Craven Cottage, at a time when the Blues have a string of midfielders suffering with injury problems.
Captain Luke Chambers echoed the midfielder’s sentiments, insisting the cup should never be described as a distraction from league football.
“It’s a great competition, the FA Cup,” the Town skipper said.
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“We have not had the best of times in the cup since I’ve been here so it would be nice to get a run going this year.
“We want to go as far as we can. I don’t think the cup can ever be a distraction from the league either. I’m not sure what the gaffer will do in terms of his team. He might make a few changes, we will see but I love the cup.
“I played against Man United when I was at Northampton and we beat Man City away with Forest. We beat them 3-0. That was a mad, mad day.
“We will be looking to progress and get into the next round and see what that brings us.”
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