Darren Pratley may have to sit out the weekend tie against Fulham but he is confident the Swans can win through

The Swansea City midfielder was the happiest man at the club when the two sides were pitted together in the 5th Round.   But just days later his joy was replaced by despair as injury ruled him out of the tie and the immediate future at Swansea.

But he has put that behind him and talked up his team-mates chances of progression into the quarter finals for the first time in over 40 years and told the Evening Post "People look at football and the big names and there is a lot of hype, but we see it as 11 against 11

"There was no pressure on us against Portsmouth and we beat them, and there isn't any pressure on us now.

"There were people like (Peter) Crouch, (Jermaine) Pennant and (Sol) Campbell in that side, but we dealt very well with them.

"Fulham have players like Andy Johnson, who is a proven scorer, and (Bobby) Zamora.

"I would put Jason Scotland up there with them. With the way we play he really suits the team. You could say all these big names cost £8million or more, but if you gave me a choice I'd have Jason.

"He is on fire at the moment and he's proved that you don't need to spend a lot of money to get a class player.

"The way we are playing, there is no reason why we can't a result," said the 23-year-old.

"It's easy for teams to say they know the plan and how they will stop you, but when we are moving the ball so well and keeping it, it is not easy to play against.

"Both clubs are pretty similar in a way. Both teams want to play football and they are community clubs — everyone knows everyone.

"I am grateful to Fulham for giving me the chance to get reserve football under my belt. It did me a lot of good.

"But I thought I was good enough to be playing Championship football regularly and I was proved right.

"It's been going very well for me here and the whole club is moving in the right direction.

"Hopefully we can take another step by making the next round of the cup.

"I have a sling to protect my arm, but I feel more comfortable without it," said Pratley. "It aches a little, but I have good movement in it.

"(Physio) Ailsa Jones is working me hard every day on the bike — that's what I can do so far.

"I could return in mid-April possibly. I haven't looked at the fixtures yet so I don't know exactly who I'll miss out on, but it is likely to be just before the play-offs start.

"It would be great to be part of that. There is no reason why we can't be."

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