Ahead of West Ham United's FA Cup fifth-round tie with Manchester United, Aaron Cresswell has the Last Word...
We know what’s at stake, and the challenge we are going to face at Old Trafford but there’s confidence after the 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest that we can reach the quarter-finals.
We played really well in that win on Saturday, and I think the second-half performance was some of the best football we have played in the league this season. To score four goals at home and keep a clean sheet was fantastic, and you saw from the celebrations at the end of the game that we are heading in the right direction. We’ve just got to continue that now.
There’s work to be done, everyone knows that. We’ve got three away games on the spin, in three different competitions – the FA Cup, Premier League and UEFA Europa Conference League - which is going to be challenging but we are looking forward to it.
Manchester United is the first game to tackle and it’s a really important competition to all of us. The FA Cup is obviously special for us players and we know how much it means to the fans as well.
Old Trafford is certainly one of the most iconic stadiums not just in England I think, but in the world, so it's a special occasion every time we play there. In previous games, we’ve stayed in the game but have been unlucky to see late goals, one goal, or small margins not fall our way, and we certainly feel like we've had some good occasions there and should have won more of the matches.
The one that stands out was back in 2016 when Dimitri Payet scored one of the best free kicks I’ve ever seen. That season every one of his free kicks seemed to find the net and I was in the best position, standing over the ball as well, to watch his strike sail in the top-corner past David de Gea.
I scored a free-kick against Manchester United, although it was at our place back in 2019/20. I think I was out of the team the week before, and then to score a goal in the next two games, starting against Manchester United, was obviously special.
If I am on the pitch on Wednesday, I will certainly be looking to take a free-kick or two. I have always fancied myself on set pieces, and I've got a few over the years, so we will see what happens.
We all know it will be tough on Wednesday as Manchester United have just won the Carabao Cup, and have found some form themselves, and will also have their home support behind them too.
We were unlucky to leave empty-handed when we played them in October and lost 1-0 but now is the time in the season when we can really achieve something special if we can get a few good results over the next weeks.
