Fulham wary of FA Cup upset

FULHAM manager Roy Hodgson is warning his team to guard against an FA Cup upset when they visit Accrington Stanley in the fourth round today.

The Lancashire club are in League Two and are hoping for a big crowd to boost their finances. Hodgson, who has challenged his team to improve on their run to the quarter-finals last season, said: "They are sitting pretty in League Two, but for glory they need to knock a Premier League team out of the FA Cup. We did quite well in the cup last year, and reached the sixth round. It was a nice experience and we would very much like to repeat it. If we could go further, why not?"

The Cottagers have lost their last three league matches, and although the temptation may be to focus on arresting that poor run when they face Tottenham next Tuesday, the game against Stanley is foremost in Hodgson's mind.

"It sounds boring, but we do it simplistic and take it one match at a time," he added. "We have not mentioned Tottenham at all this week, it has all been about Accrington.

"We know it is going to be a different situation for us going there. It is going to be a much smaller ground, the quality of the surface will not be as good as we are used to."

Burnley take on Reading in one of today's early matches at the Madejski Stadium, while Carling Cup finalists Aston Villa take on Brighton and Leeds, who knocked out Manchester United in the last round, now face Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

There are all-Premier League ties between Everton and Birmingham and Portsmouth and Sunderland today while Stoke host Arsenal tomorrow.