George McCartney is the only player to have featured in every single one of West Ham United's 26 games this season and the defender is eager to keep that run going against Manchester City on Wednesday night.
"There's no chance of me asking for a rest," he said about the FA Cup third-round replay at the City of Manchester Stadium, which could see manager Alan Curbishley make some changes - especially with a league game against the same opposition four days later. "It has been a long season so far and I have played every game but I will be happy come the end of the season if I have played every game from now until the end as well."
The Northern Irish international said he did not expect the manager to change things around too much although was aware that several players are coming back into contention - particularly defensive colleagues like Danny Gabbidon, James Collins and Lucas Neill. "I think he will keep the same team if he can," he said. "It is going to be a tough game. I don't mind playing every game. I just want to be part of playing as many games as I can and doing my best. It is nice to have competition for places."
The left-back has not just been a constant this season, he has been consistent with it. He turned in another reliable display last Saturday, on his 100th Premier League outing, as the team battled back gamely from conceding an early goal to win 2-1 against Fulham. "Having beaten Manchester United at home [on 29 December], it would have been disappointing not to beat Fulham," he recalled. "It wasn't the best of starts but we picked up as the game went on and got the three points at the end of the day - that's the most important thing."
The No3 was particularly pleased to have fit-again Matthew Etherington back in front of him, as he did for the first cup meeting with City on 5 January. "Me and Matty have a very good understanding," he said. "He is probably the only real out and out winger we have at the club. You give him the ball and he will just run at the full-back. He makes a big difference to the team because he is always creating chances and scoring the odd goal here and there. It was important to get him back in the team."
Another player that McCartney has been happy to have around is French international Julien Faubert following his late cameo on Saturday. The 26-year-old has been more than impressed with what he has seen at close hand in recent weeks. "He has looked very good. Obviously he had a real bad injury, he has come back from that and he looks sharp in training. I am sure he will give the fans what they have been waiting for."
As a left-back, McCartney knows all about dealing with right-sided attackers but has not had to come up against his speedy team-mate too much on the training ground. "Thankfully Julien has been on my team so I haven't really had to deal with that pace yet," he said with a smile. "I will just leave it to the left-back on the other side to worry about that."