I LEARNED TO BEWARE OF THE UNDERDOG
Lambo not giving up
HEARTS defender Conor Shaughnessy is extra wary of the threat of underdogs Partick Thistle after last season’s painful FA Cup exit.
The defender scored an own goal as Leeds suffered a shock 2-1 third-round defeat against League Two side Newport.
The on-loan 22-year-old knows the Jags will raise their game when they host Hearts in tonight’s quarter-final.
Shaughnessy said: “They have been on a good run of form before they lost their last game. So they will be coming into this with that hunger.
“Obviously they’re underdogs so we have to be well prepared for that. That means we have to up our game again because that seems to happen in these cup ties where smaller teams come out and can put in a really strong performance against a team in the league above them.
“I was involved in the Newport match last season. That was a bad defeat for us so I know what it’s like to come up against a smaller team and not come away with a win.
“That was a disappointing day but I’ve learned a lot from it and I will be passing it on to the lads here. But I’m sure a lot of them have been through it themselves.” PAUL LAMBERT refuses to accept Ipswich Town are hurtling towards relegation from the Championship.
The former Celtic and Scotland skipper watched in anguish from the stand – to serve the second of his two-game suspension – as they crashed 2-1 at home to Reading.
Lambert said: “Time is not on our side but until it’s mathematically impossible you never give in.
“Your job is to try to win, it’s still possible but it’ll be hard. We need a lot of work but you never ever stop.”