Brian McDermott knows exactly how important the FA Cup is to Reading fans after watching their YouTube clips of his side’s heroic 2-1 win over Liverpool.
Burnley visit Madejski Stadium in the fourth round of the competition tomorrow (12.45pm kick-off, live on www.thefa.com), eight months after destroying Royals’ promotion dreams in the play-offs last season.
And Reading’s caretaker boss has no intention of fielding a weakened side as he looks to emulate the extra-time excitement of the Anfield replay nine days ago by claiming a second Premier League scalp.
McDermott said: “As sad as I am, I went onto YouTube the other day and there was a 50-second clip from one of our fans behind the goal.
“It was just before Gylfi took his penalty and you could feel the nerves. It was tangible and when we scored it was completely crazy and that’s what being in football is all about for me.
“It was really special and was a good little clip, you should go and take a look at it.”
In recent seasons ex-Royals manager Steve Coppell used the FA Cup as an opportunity to play fringe players.
But although McDermott has been haunted by the spectre of relegation since taking charge last month, he intends to field his strongest possible team tomorrow.
“It’s the greatest cup competition in the world,” he declared. “The focus is to try to win the game and get into the next round.
“We want to go as far as we can. It’s amazing how quickly the games come around and all of a sudden you can find yourself in the quarter-finals. That’s where we want to be.
“I was at three cup finals myself with Arsenal and these are great days. As a child I remember watching the games in black and white and it was always a special day.”
McDermott believes a cup run is a big financial incentive for the club and would be a great boost for the fans, who this week saw their team slip into the bottom three of the Championship.
Chairman Sir John Madejski has yet to confirm him as Brendan Rodgers’ successor.
Asked if a decision was likely to be made within the next couple of weeks, McDermott said: “I would imagine that would be the case, without a doubt. I’m sure things will sort themselves out in a short period of time.”
Do you know who posted the amazing YouTube video? email jonny.fordham@reading-epost.co.uk