Alan Curbishley is ready to attack the FA Cup and claimed the fans would expect nothing else of his West Ham United side.
"We have got to attack competitions we think we can do well in," he said before the third-round visit of Manchester City. "The cup competitions are what we have to attack - the fans expect that. The side that goes out will be the strongest side available because that is what we are left with at the moment. You have got to compete for it in every game. That's what we will be doing.
"Everybody appreciates that the third round is a big day. Perhaps it has diminished over the years but it is always a big day and up and down the country. You see people travelling to the games and looking forward to fixtures that they perhaps wouldn't see too often. There is always that feel about it, there are a few people that are going into games under a little bit of pressure which happens every year.
"I would just like to progress. We are fully aware our home form could be better and it is another opportunity for us to improve on that. We have just had a fantastic result against Man U, so we have now got two home games coming up and if we can win both of them it will set us up nicely."
Saturday's contest at the Boleyn Ground is a repeat of the opening league match of the season on 11 August - when Sven-Goran Eriksson's side won 2-0 in the former England manager's first game in charge. The chance to avenge that result against a team now ranked in the top four in England has also whetted Curbishley's appetite for the weekend.
"We know it is going to be a difficult game," the manager said. "They are going great guns but our record is not that bad either. It should be an interesting game. A Premier League side is going to win the FA Cup and why can't it be one of us.
"When we played City, they turned up as a bit of an unknown quantity - a lot of signings had been made in the summer. They have had a really good start and great credit to them. They have played the same way week in, week out. It is the same shape - perhaps different personnel every now and then - but they have stuck to it and with that continuity it has brought them results."
With the achievement's of Eriksson's side this season, much of the attention has rightly been on Brazilian playmaker Elano who is just battling back to fitness after a hamstring injury. The visitors will also have a new forward on show in the shape of prolific Mexico striker Nery Castillo, who has arrived on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk, with Curbishley crediting his opposite number for his success in the transfer market.
"They did some really good business in the summer and a lot of that was to due to the contacts he has made throughout his career," Curbishley explained. "He bought in a lot of players that we haven't heard of, or seen too much of, and they have been successful. He has been there before and if they go again in this window or next summer - he won't be too shy. He knows what it is about."