Tim Ream has warned his Fulham team-mates that they have ‘targets on our backs’ as they prepare to face League Two Wycombe Wanderers in the first round of the League Cup tonight.
The American centre back, who was one of the star performers during the run-in as the Whites got so close to reaching Wembley last season, knows that Slavisa Jokanovic’s side would be a big scalp for supporter-owned Wycombe at Adams Park this evening. Ream is also expecting his Serbian head coach to rotate a few of his first-team players with Saturday’s trip to Reading in mind.
It’s one of the grounds I’ve not been to, so that’ll be interesting for me. We have quite a few numbers in the squad now, so whether we make quite a few changes or whether some guys play again, we’ll see what happens.
I know we’ve only played one game in the league, but a change of pace and a chance to progress in a Cup competition rather than compete for three points is a different proposition, so it’ll be nice to get out there and try and progress to the next round.
It’s not going to be as nice a pitch as we’ve got at Craven Cottage, the atmosphere’s going to be different and these games are always difficult. These lower-league sides are always out to prove something. Teams in the Championship, the Premier League and League One always have targets on our back when we face these lower-league teams, so we have to be ready for that, prepare properly and do what we do best.
Ream was still with Bolton Wanderers when the Fulham, then managed by Kit Symons, narrowly saw off Wycombe in this competition two seasons ago – securing a place in the second round thanks to a second half strike from Alex Kacaniklic.