Sol Campbell won the FA Cup twice with Arsenal and he might not get a better chance to land a hat-trick of winner’s medals with Portsmouth this season. Pompey have what seems like a favourable last 16 draw at Deepdale on Sunday, although Soccernet reports that the England defender is warning his team-mates against complacency if they want to progress.
Campbell says: ‘A lot of guys coming from playing abroad are used to having it easy in cup games against lower league teams.
‘So it is up to us English players to put them right and make sure they know it’s not that way here. Like Ipswich and Plymouth in the previous rounds, Preston will be chasing around trying to make life difficult for us.
‘We’ve had to rely on David James making some great saves but we can’t keep doing that and we’ve got to set our stall out right, match the opposition in the hard work department and then, hopefully, making our ability count.
‘It is nice to have a cup run at this stage of the season when the team is doing well in the league. You never know where it might lead.’
Victory on Sunday will give Harry Redknapp’s men a very real opportunity of making it to Wembley, especially with one of Manchester United or Arsenal bowing out at this stage. Can the likes of Muntari and Utaka return and make the necessary impact for the Hampshire club?