Aaron Cresswell would love to fulfil a boyhood dream of winning the FA Cup and hopes to play his part in another famous victory over Liverpool this season.
Cresswell still has fond memories of the Hammers emphatic 3-0 win over the Merseyside Club at Anfield back in August and was also part of the team that beat the Reds 2-0 at the Boleyn Ground at the start of 2016.
After being held to a goalless draw at Anfield ten-days ago, the talented full-back knows the Hammers stand a big chance of making it through to the Fifth Round of the competition.
Despite the importance of finishing well in the Premier League, Cresswell insists the players are also desperate to do well in the Emirates FA Cup this season and would love to help West Ham win major silverware.
Cresswell said: “It’s still one of the best cups in which a player can be involved. Certainly, when I grew up, kicking a ball around the streets, I was always trying to score the winning goal in an FA Cup Final.
“For me and especially the other English lads it’s especially important and it hasn’t lost any of its attraction.
“Growing up I was a Liverpool fan, especially when they had players like Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Steven Gerrard. It was good then to be a Liverpool supporter but things have changed now. I’m at West Ham now and we want to go as far as we can in the FA Cup.
“There’s not many of my family and friends coming down for this one but I’m sure they will be watching on TV. I do have a few mates travelling down but hopefully we can upset a few and progress through the next round.
“Everyone wants the best of both worlds I suppose, we want to finish high up in the Premier League and win the FA Cup Final. If you ask any of the lads though, if they had the chance of getting to Wembley but sacrificing a league position or two – I’m sure they would snap your hand off.”
Cresswell is hoping the Hammers will bounce straight back from the disappointing 1-0 defeat against Southampton on Saturday and knows the start to the game will be crucial for both teams.
He added: “There’s a few games this season where we’ve started slowly. We can’t put a finger exactly on what it is but it’s not what we want to be doing. If you start slowly then sometimes you can’t recover.
“After the game we were disappointed but there’s still plenty of reasons to be positive.
“We’re sixth in the Premier League, we’ve lost just two in the last 13 and we’re still in the Cup. There’s a lot to look forward to.”