ALL’S WELL IF OLI IS WELL FOR SWANSEA

Rovers boss Mccann reveals how Spurs gaffer lifted his spirits after sacking

SWANSEA hope to have star striker Oli Mcburnie off his sick bed and fully firing as they try to reach the quarter-finals for only the fifth time in their history.

Home advantage against Brentford, a side they have already beaten in the Championship, should give them every chance of reaching the last eight, but Swans boss Graham Potter needs Mcburnie (above).

The Scotland star was only well enough to play for the final half hour in the 2-1 midweek defeat at Leeds, but Potter is hoping to get more from him tomorrow.

“Oli has had a couple of bouts of flu and taken his time to get over them. He had a couple of days in bed, has been on antibiotics and felt really low,” said Potter.

“Playing him from the start against Bristol City knocked him back and he’s still not 100 per cent better. He is getting better though and we knew the maximum he was able to play at

Leeds was 30 minutes.

“When you’ve been through that type of illness it’s unfair to put him in a situation that’s damaging.

“We hope he can play a bigger part against Brentford because he’s our main goal threat and links up play well. You could see his quality when he came on at Leeds.”

Mcburnie clawed a goal back with a penalty late on at Elland Road. That was his eighth goal in his last seven games and his 16th of the season.

No wonder, with so few alternatives, Potter is desperate to get him on from the start.

“When you lose someone like Oli, it tests the group, but the challenge is to find a solution,” added Potter.

“We did that against Millwall, but we don’t know if the result would have been different had we had him from the start at Leeds. Oli is a top Championship player and we’d love to have three or four like him.”

Swansea reached the last eight last season, before going out to Tottenham. They last reached the semifinals 55 years ago.

“I’m a million miles away from thinking about Wembley. I have far too much respect for Brentford to do that,” said Potter.

“It’s a surprising stat that Swansea have only reached the quarter-finals four times.

“We can’t think too much about that, we just need to focus on Sunday.” FA CUP FIFTH ROUND: Tomorrow 4pm DONCASTER ROVERS stand on the brink of history thanks to a chance encounter between Mauricio Pochettino and manager Grant Mccann.

Mccann visited different clubs following his sacking by Peterborough a year ago and bumped into Pochettino at Tottenham.

He was invited down by Spurs’s academy head Dean Rastrick and was bowled over that Pochettino (above) knew him.

The Spurs boss told Mccann not to be discouraged at being axed a month after beating Aston Villa at Villa Park in the FA Cup because he had also been sacked from his first job with Espanyol in 2012.

That gave Mccann a huge lift and he landed the Doncaster job soon after.

Mccann has led Rovers to the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since 1956, when fellow Ulsterman Peter Doherty was manager, and victory over Crystal Palace tomorrow would see them reach the quarter-finals for the first time. “The break in between Peterborough and Doncaster was key for me,” said Mccann, who was in charge of Posh for 18 months.

“I went to see Dean and, as we were walking through the canteen, Mauricio saw us. Before Dean introduced me to him, he knew who I was, which was lovely.

“He spoke to me for about 10 to 15 minutes. He knew what had happened to me at Peterborough.

“He said he lost his job as a young manager, but that I would be back.

“He made me feel good that day, made me feel hungry to get back into the game.

“It was nice to have a conversation with him and he reassured me to stick to my beliefs.”

Mccann, 38, is relishing meeting another coaching luminary in Palace boss Roy Hodgson, who began his managerial career at Swedish side Halmstad in 1976 – four years before the Donny boss was born.

“It would make Roy feel very, very old if I tell him that,” smiled the former Northern Ireland midfielder, who began his career under Harry Redknapp at West Ham before joining Cheltenham, Barnsley, Scunthorpe and Peterborough.

“To be in my office with him after the game, sharing a glass of wine with him or a beer, will be a privilege.”

Mccann’s target is promotion to the Championship – Rovers are handily placed in sixth – and he feels the Palace game is a chance to test his side.

He has challenged his players, who have beaten Charlton and Preston in their cup run, to make history in front of a sellout 14,000 crowd at the Keepmoat Stadium.

“They could be talking about this Doncaster team forever and the time they got to the FA Cup quarter-finals,” added Mccann.

“We will be on the front foot, our fans will expect that. If it’s good enough, great, and if not, we won’t have any regrets.

I want our players to embrace it.”