Ole: We're up for a cup battle

The hosts’ pitch has been the subject of much media attention in the build-up to this weekend’s game, with Tranmere’s original third-round replay against Watford having to be postponed until Thursday due to waterlogging.

While the boss did admit the playing surface at Prenton Park is not what his side are used to, he was certainly not making any excuses ahead of the game. In fact, Ole is looking forward to the challenge of adapting our style for such an occasion.

“It's a game at Prenton Park, with the pitch as it is... it's the romance of the FA Cup for me. That's how I remember watching it on television,” he said during his pre-match press conference.

“There's a chance it's a leveller. It gives them all the advantages or they try to level out the difference in, not quality, there's no disrespect there, but we are a Premier League team, they are in League One and we should be able to go there and outplay them.

“It's not going to be possible to outplay teams on that pitch, so we're up for a scrap and, for me, that's the FA Cup. It's a big game for us after two defeats.”

Micky Mellon’s Tranmere men have already proved they are capable of a cup upset after eliminating Watford on Thursday, and Ole knows United will have to be ready for a battle this weekend in order to avoid suffering a similar fate.

“We need to go out there and show that we can fight, show that we're not going to put our hoodies up and walk away,” the boss told the assembled media at the Aon Training Complex.

“Knowing these players as I do, I'm sure they're going to be challenging and flying into tackles and doing everything they can to start the winning run that we need.

"I want to go as far as possible in this cup,” he added. “I'd love to get to the final and win it.”

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