FA CUP ROUND-UP
Grant Hanley believes
NORWICH have struck on a blueprint for Premier league survival. With only four league wins all season, the Canaries are six points adrift at the bottom, but a 2-1 win at
BURNLEY provided a tonic. Hanley, who scored the first, reckons an Fa Cup run can aid their relegation fight. ‘the biggest thing is we take confidence from the character we showed, because we played here in the league and it wasn’t a nice experience,’ said the Canaries captain (right). ‘you could say we maybe got bullied a bit, but I’d say here we showed up and we won our individual battles. ‘We earned the right to play our football. then we went on to play our style of play and dominated the game.’ Burnley are seven points clear of the bottom three but their dismal Cup record continued under Sean Dyche, having only once progressed beyond round four under him. James tarkowski insisted the players were upset — despite the manager only labelling the defeat a ‘soft disappointment’, and stressing the importance of the league. ‘We put a strong team out, so it wasn’t like we were trying
to get out of the Cup. We wanted a good Cup run so it’s a shame,’ Tarkowski said.
SHEFFIELD UNITED boss Chris Wilder was delighted his team saw off Championship side
MILLWALL. Mo Besic and Ollie Norwood provided the moments of quality in the second half. Wilder will now focus on adding to his squad. ‘We have a number of targets we are working on to improve our squad,’ he said. ‘We want to march on. There is a big part of the season, the second part of the season, and we want to keep on going well. ‘We are still wins away from securing our Premier League status for next year.’ League One PORTSMOUTH reached the fifth round for the first time in 10 years, beating BARNSLEY 4-2. Cauley Woodrow’s 25-yard stunner — Barnsley’s first shot on target
— reduced the deficit but not for long. Goalkeeper Alex Bass’s long clearance went all the way through to Ronan Curtis who finished off and then Christian Burgess’s header made it four. Conor Chaplin tapped in a late second goal for Barnsley.
CARDIFF have promised to investigate after allegations of racist and homophobic abuse were made against their fans in the 1-1 draw at READING. Callum Paterson put Cardiff ahead, then Yakou Meite equalised. He celebrated with a tearful tribute to his father, who died last week. He lifted his shirt to reveal the words ‘I love you Papa’ in French.