Darren Pratley says he is ready to upset one of his heroes in the FA Cup this weekend

The Swansea City midfielder is an Arsenal fan and will come face to face with one of his heroes this weekend when he comes up against Tony Adams and his Portsmouth side in the FA Cup.

The Swans travel to face the holders looking to end their reign as cup holders and Pratley admits that facing one of his childhood heroes will be a spur (pardon the pun!) to him.

Speaking to the Western Mail, Pratley said “I’ve always been an Arsenal fan, and I was a big fan of Tony Adams. He was still captain when I was a kid at Arsenal and I used to go along with my mates and see him and Martin Keown at the back dominating things.

“I didn’t get to know him when I was at the club, but to fans he was like a god because he was the head of that side and a different class as a defender.

“He got labelled a bit as a limited defender, but I don’t think that was really the case – and now he’s a manager he’s certainly got a proper footballing team at Portsmouth.

“Yes, they’re big and strong, probably the biggest team in the Premier, but they are all footballers who like to get it down and play. I know Sean Davis from Fulham and he’s a class example of that.

“He tries to get them playing in the right way which could suit us and our game.

“They have top players, but the way we play and the type of game we use makes it a great test for us to see how far we’ve come as a team and individuals.

“I had my one game in the Premier back with Fulham and it’s good to get that chance to play on a similar stage again and I can use it to see how far I’ve come since I left that behind.

“The only pressure on us is the one that we’re putting on our own shoulders to deliver and to do ourselves justice,” he said.

“We all want to put in a good show on a stage like that and produce the kind of performance that we have been doing in the league on a regular basis, not shying away from it just because it’s against a Premier League side. It’s a one-off and you have to make the most of those opportunities in your career.

“We’ve done well in the league so far, but we’re always trying to improve and a game like this is a good chance to show how we’ve done that.

“But, as much as it will be a test to see how far we’ve come, it’s also a game we’ll be going there to win.

“It’s strange because after being in the lower leagues for a while there’s been a cup feel to quite a few of the games this year,” he said.

“We’ve played a lot of teams that have dropped down from the Premiership very recently so we’ve been able to experience those fairly big occasions all season.

“This is obviously different because Portsmouth are such a good team with international class players.

“And I think having a game like this will do us a favour when it comes to getting back into the league. Sometimes the league can get on top of you with games coming thick and fast on a Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday.

“So to take on a fresh challenge will be good for us all.

“We can all taste a different kind of pressure and then, after putting the league aside for a week, we can all get stuck back in to what is an important part of the season for us.”

Photo: Action Images

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