Slavisa Jokanovic is relishing the prospect of welcoming Tottenham Hotspur to Craven Cottage for Sunday’s FA Cup fifth round tie and believes a good Fulham performance can deliver greater ‘prestige’ for the club and himself.
The Serbian head coach described the televised London derby as ‘an extra present’ for his Fulham squad who are eager to challenge for a play-off place in the Championship this season – and his excitement bubbled over during today’s pre-match press conference.
It’s a great opportunity personally for myself. I don’t see this game in front of us like one normal game. It is an extra present for us. If we can win it can be prestigious for the club, for the players, and why not for myself?
In this life you can spend the money and you can earn the money, but if you spend the prestige it is a very complicated life in front of you. I am going to fight for some kind of prestige in this game.
Jokanovic doesn’t expect Tottenham to be adversely affected by last night’s Europa League reverse in Belgium, believing that setback will only spur Mauricio Pochettino’s side into delivering a reaction on their return to domestic action.
I watched the game last night, and Gent played very good football. They were aggressive and strong. I believe they [Spurs] will change the team a little bit and they will use some different players but this team is full of quality.
The Fulham boss, whose side knocked out top flight opposition in Hull City in the last round, reaffirmed his commitment to taking the world’s oldest club competition seriously.
This is the FA Cup. We must respect this competition and play with energy and with ambition to pass the round. I will try to field a competitive squad. I will try to choose the best team for what is in front of us, and what is in front of us is one of the top Premier League teams. It’s not time for myself to try to make some experiments in February
