THE secret of pulling of a cup upset is all about self-belief according to Blues defender David Wright.While at Crewe, Wright came within a whisker of helping knock out Premiership side Everton, his boyhood favourites, to reach the quart finals.

By Derek Davis

THE secret of pulling of a cup upset is all about self-belief according to Blues defender David Wright.

While at Crewe, Wright came within a whisker of helping knock out Premiership side Everton, his boyhood favourites, to reach the quart finals.

The effort it took to get a draw at Goodison Park almost five years ago to the day, only to lose at home, eventually cost Crewe their Championship status but Wright remembers how they almost caused an upset.

He said: “We played at Goodison first and drew 0-0 but lost 2-1 at our place. We took them really close and played really well both games, we even hit the woodwork right at the end at Everton.

“To be so close, especially at Goodison where a couple of inches could have take us into the quarters, was a great experience.

“There were a few of us at Crewe then who were Everton fans so it was excellent to play at Goodison but it cost us in the end.

“We got relegated that season after going so far in the cup because we also had a lot of postponed matches and, in the end, we were playing three games a week and it got on top of us.”

Wright remembers that, even though it was a relatively young Crewe side and had a number of Everton fans among them, including himself, they refused to be star- struck.

He said: “Once the whistle went it was irrelevant. This is how we need to be against Watford. They are a good side but the young lads will soon realise Watford are not that much better than us and we can win. They are not a Manchester United or an Arsenal and the lads should not be overawed.”

He is one of the few Town players who have got this far in the competition and dismisses the notion that the FA Cup is not as exciting as it once was.

He said: “Perhaps, for the top four, the FA Cup has lost its sheen but for 88 other clubs in the league and all those further down the pyramid it has not. We all love playing in it and it still has plenty of meaning for players.”

The Blues will take home an extra £120,000 in prize money if they get through today's round, on top of the £100,000 they have already secured and will make around £150,000 in gate receipts from Watford.

Wright added: “The Champions' League, with everything that entails, is what the big four clubs want to win. But for smaller clubs the finances that can be made from the FA Cup are as great as they make in the Champions' League.

“It is all relative, while £120,000 is a weeks wages to some of those players, it means an awful lot to clubs lower down.”

Wright will also offer an insight into today's opponents after seeing Wigan earn a 1-1 draw with them at home in September, even though he didn't play.

He said: “I know Damien Francis from our days together at Wigan and know how dangerous he can be with his late runs into the box from midfield.

“Watford are known as a long ball team but that is not strictly true. Once they are in the final third, they play the ball around well and have different ways of hurting you, so we will have to be ready for that.”