WE’LL RATTLE SPURS CAGE, VOW MILLWALL
TOTTENHAM may be playing their final FA Cup tie at White Hart Lane tomorrow, but for moments of the game they are unlikely to feel at home.
Millwall, visiting Spurs for the first time in 27 years, are rarely the most amenable of guests — and they arrive for this quarter-final with the express intention of ‘rattling’ their hosts.
On the back of a 17- game unbeaten run, three Premier League scalps and having watched the Sutton United and Lincoln City Cup fairytales with interest, manager Neil Harris has a team with every reason to be in a boisterous mood at the Lane.
Backed by almost 4,000 travelling fans, even away from The Den it could be a hostile occasion for Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs.
‘ Can we rattle them? Yes,’ Harris says. ‘There’s going to be a moment in the 90 minutes that affects the competition in a different way. We’ve done it three previous rounds.
‘Sutton have done it; Lincoln are still doing it. We’ve got to take inspiration from that and make sure it’s us that causes an upset or has a moment in the game that can maybe lead us to victory.’
Millwall are renowned for an in- your- face attitude — and Harris ( below) hopes this is reflected in his team’s style of play tomorrow at 2pm.
Millwall made light work of Premier League champions Leicester City in the last round, and dispatched Watford and Bournemouth in earlier ties.
‘We need to be a good Millwall team,’ Harris says of his League One outfit.
‘By that I mean you have to be spirited, you have to play our style of play, have to have togetherness in the dressing room, and we have got that at the moment.
‘ We’ve got fantastic leadership, got some super young talented players coming through. If we were playing 38 league games against Tottenham it would be difficult, but the FA Cup can be a real leveller because of the expectation in a one-off game.
‘We hope that we play as well as we have done against the three Premier League sides previously, and we certainly hope that Tottenham aren’t as good as they can be at times.
‘If we do that we can certainly cause them problems.’
A trip to Wembley, albeit prematurely in the semi-finals, is the prize for an upset. This year’s run has already brought back memories of when Millwall made it to the Cup final in 2004, although then the showpiece venue was Cardiff.
Harris, 39 now, was a striker in Dennis Wise’s team and cites not playing at the national stadium as his sole disappointment in a season that ended in defeat by a Cristiano Ronaldoled Manchester United.
That run inspires a passion in the manager, who was yesterday named as League One’s best for February. It was a dream fulfilled that he now desperately wants for his players.
‘We are the underdog and we are the underdog for a reason — we know that. But it is the FA Cup,’ Harris says.
‘This competition gives me the inspiration where I can stand in front of my players at five to two on Sunday, dreaming that we can make a semi-final.
‘It is what the FA Cup is all about for us. As Englishmen, you want to be successful in the FA Cup because you dream as a kid, playing in the garden, playing in the lounge with a soft ball, you’re in that team playing in the FA Cup final scoring the winning goal. ‘I was fortunate enough to realise that dream — playing in an FA Cup final. I am proud of my players for what they have achieved. But by no means are we finishedinthis competition.’
Tottenham face a team familiar with adversity, having overcome the compulsory purchase order drama that hung over their ground earlier this season. They will have no problem with finding themselves with their backs to the wall tomorrow.
‘There’s a belief about what we do,’ says Harris. ‘We know what we’re capable of.’
His opponent in Pochettino has revealed he takes his inspiration from his wife, Karina, who offers advice on his tactical decisions.
‘When I arrive home, she asks, “Why this or why that?” ’ he said. ‘She always gave the opinion, but always after, never before. We lose — “Why play this? Why not that? Why not change?” ’