When it comes to cup competitions, James Tomkins is rapidly becoming a lucky charm.
The West Ham United defender has started three ties this season - a Carling Cup quarter-final while on loan at Derby County and two FA Cup matches for the Hammers - and won all three without conceding a single goal.
The 19-year-old central defender was part of the Rams' side that beat Premier League Stoke City 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium in early December. He then returned to the Boleyn Ground to help West Ham United overcome Barnsley 3-0 in the FA Cup third round. Tomkins completed a hat-trick of knockout victories in Saturday's 2-0 victory at Hartlepool United.
"It's brilliant. Hopefully we can keep this run going in the cup. The FA Cup is a brilliant competition. Obviously it's my first experience of this tournament. I'm enjoying it and want to go as far as we can in it."
Tomkins enjoyed his latest cup excursion, relishing the test posed by Hartlepool's Australian striker Joel Porter and on-loan Watford forward Liam Henderson at Victoria Park.
"They were physically strong and caused us some difficulties but I thought we fought well and won our battles all over the pitch. We came through and the two goals were very important. They came within the space of a few minutes and killed them off really. In the second half, they still kept coming at us to be fair to them, but we coped well with it all over the pitch.
"They had a few good strikers. Obviously Porter is quite an experienced player and they also had a few younger lads who came on and were quite quick. We had to be on our guard but we kept a clean sheet and we were always likely to score goals with the team that we've got."
After making his Hammers first-team bow at the tail-end of last season, when he made six Premier League appearances, Tomkins suffered a calf injury at this summer's European Under-19 Championship finals in the Czech Republic. However, he is now back to full fitness and eager to earn more playing time in Gianfranco Zola's side.
"Obviously it was brilliant for me [to play at Hartlepool]. I also played against Barnsley which was good and we've kept two clean sheets. If I can keep impressing the manager then it will help me, but the way we're playing at the moment it's going to be difficult for me to break into the team in the Premier League. He's given me two run outs in the FA Cup so hopefully I can impress him and he can depend on me when he needs me."