LOSING TO MINNOWS CAN GET YOU THE SACK

Sportsmail’s brilliant team of experts recall their Cup scrapes with rat catchers and job snatchers

■ YOU cannot win as a Premier League player in round three. When I was at Liverpool, we had a couple of bad days in the FA Cup. We went behind at home to Havant & Waterlooville, in round four, in 2008, and that was absolutely awful. We ended up battering them but for the minutes we were behind, we were facing the ultimate embarrassment. In the next round, we were drawn at home to Barnsley. When you play for Liverpool and get drawn against lower league opposition this is the situation that faces you: if you win and you score a hat-trick, everyone shrugs and says, ‘So what?’

If you lose, you become a laughing stock. We lost. My biggest nightmare, however, was at the Ricoh Arena with Stoke. We were abysmal. The performance was embarrassing and we were beaten 2-1. That result, unfortunately, was the breaking point for Mark Hughes (right). We made the short journey back up the M6 to our training ground in Clayton Woods and when we pulled into the car park, there were two cars by the entrance to the complex — one belonged to the chairman, the other belonged to the chief executive. Immediately, all the players looked at each other and knew what was coming. Mark, sadly, ended up losing his job. It was a horrendous way to end a dreadful day. The following year we ended up losing to Shrewsbury at home. For a kid who grew up absolutely adoring the FA Cup and who won it in 2006, it was a nightmare way to end my association as a player with the competition.

FA CUP THIRD ROUND, JANUARY 2018 COVENTRY 2 STOKE CITY 1