Paul Konchesky has revealed that the players were confident
of FA Cup glory even before Monday night's memorable
quarter-final victory at Manchester City.
The England left-back and lifelong Hammers fan could hardly contain his delight after helping Alan Pardew's team through to the last four of the most famous domestic cup competition in the world, and admits that the performance against City was borne out of an inner-belief that followed our fifth round replay win against Bolton Wanderers.
"When we reached the quarter-final, the lads believed that we had a real chance of going all the way and that belief is even stronger now," he says.
"It would have been a good result if we had nicked a draw and taken City back to Upton Park, but we've shown already that we've got the players capable of beating teams on their own patch, and I thought everyone was superb on Monday night.
"Deano got two great goals and everyone worked hard to defend our lead. It was a great team performance and it's just a brilliant feeling to be in the semi-finals."
Friday's semi-final draw has now turned into an eagerly-awaited event for Hammers fans and, with Charlton Athletic facing Middlesbrough in the last of the quarter-finals on Thursday night, there is of course a possibility that Paul could end up facing his former club in the last four.
"Yeah, that would be one to look forward to," he smiles. "I think most people would say that you'd want to avoid Chelsea and perhaps Liverpool if you could, but we won't worry about that too much.
"A semi-final is a one-off game, on a neutral ground, and we believe that we can give anyone a game on our day.
"The fans will have a great day out and, if we can perform to our full potential, we've got every chance of getting to the final."
The England left-back and lifelong Hammers fan could hardly contain his delight after helping Alan Pardew's team through to the last four of the most famous domestic cup competition in the world, and admits that the performance against City was borne out of an inner-belief that followed our fifth round replay win against Bolton Wanderers.
"When we reached the quarter-final, the lads believed that we had a real chance of going all the way and that belief is even stronger now," he says.
"It would have been a good result if we had nicked a draw and taken City back to Upton Park, but we've shown already that we've got the players capable of beating teams on their own patch, and I thought everyone was superb on Monday night.
"Deano got two great goals and everyone worked hard to defend our lead. It was a great team performance and it's just a brilliant feeling to be in the semi-finals."
Friday's semi-final draw has now turned into an eagerly-awaited event for Hammers fans and, with Charlton Athletic facing Middlesbrough in the last of the quarter-finals on Thursday night, there is of course a possibility that Paul could end up facing his former club in the last four.
"Yeah, that would be one to look forward to," he smiles. "I think most people would say that you'd want to avoid Chelsea and perhaps Liverpool if you could, but we won't worry about that too much.
"A semi-final is a one-off game, on a neutral ground, and we believe that we can give anyone a game on our day.
"The fans will have a great day out and, if we can perform to our full potential, we've got every chance of getting to the final."