Billy McKinlay is anticipating a tricky test when Bristol City visit London Stadium for Sunday’s FA Cup third round contest.
The EFL Championship side make the trip up the M4 and around the M25 to face the Hammers on Sunday, marking the first time in nine years that the two sides have faced each other.
Under the management of former Irons Academy coach Liam Manning, the Robins have found a recent spell of good form, and McKinlay knows City will be eager to cause an upset at London Stadium.
Nonetheless, the West Ham United assistant coach says the Londoners know the significance of the FA Cup and are determined to progress through the competition this weekend.
City considerations
Bristol City will be a really difficult game. I don’t think we will underestimate anybody here. We’ve had difficult games against Championship teams in the past few seasons in the cup competitions, and this will also be a challenging game.
We know they’re on a good run of form and it will be a difficult game, but it’s one we’re looking forward to as well.
Manning’s return
Liam Manning was at West Ham United during our first spell with the Club and he did a good job with the U23s. He’s moved on and had a couple of managerial jobs now, and he’s done well.
He’s not long been at Bristol City and he’s been finding his way, and they’ve hit some form in the last few games. I expect he’ll be looking forward to coming back here after spending some time here as a coach and it will be good to see him.
The magic of the cup
The FA Cup third round is a really important date in the calendar. It’s been so important to English football for such a long time and we’re excited for it. It’ll be a big day, and I think we’ve got close to a full house at London Stadium.
The team will be backed, as usual, by the West Ham support coming to cheer on their team. They’ll want to see a good performance and a good result.
We take the FA Cup really seriously. It’s a huge competition in English football and it’s a competition that West Ham United last won in 1980 and last reached the final of in 2006. It’s a significant competition and we all take it seriously.
Hopefully we can have a decent run. We’ve had some good runs in cup competitions in the last couple of years, and hopefully we can go far in this competition too.
Squad update
We’ve had a busy schedule. It’s been really demanding and, credit to the players, because they’ve been fantastic in that period of time. We’re aware of how demanding it has been for them and there’s a little break coming up [after Sunday].
The gaffer will decide what team plays on Sunday over the next couple of days, and we’re looking forward to the game. Vladimír Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Lucas Paquetá and Michail Antonio are being assessed and we’ll assess them after training on Saturday and make a decision after that.
Thank you Thilo
Thilo Kehrer had a good 18 months with us. He was a significant part of our success last season in the UEFA Europa Conference League win. This year, he’s probably not had as much game time as he would have liked and it’s been difficult for him in that regard.
It’s a good opportunity for him to go to AS Monaco and get some playing time. We’ve been delighted to have him at West Ham United.
