Don’t waste your breath trying to tell Town winger Tommy Oar that the FA Cup has lost a lot of its glitter.

The 24-year-old looks certain to be in Mick McCarthy’s starting line-up for tonight’s FA Cup third round replay at Portsmouth and the love he felt for the world’s oldest knockout competition as a youngster growing up in Australia still burns brightly within.

Oar said: “There is always a lot of interest back home in English football and one of the things I remember best about the FA Cup was Ryan Giggs scoring an amazing goal against Arsenal.

“That’s a moment that really stands out for me from my childhood when I think about football. Everybody in Australia really gets behind it.

“The FA Cup is very special because it’s so unpredictable. You never know who is going to beat who and there are always upsets in every round.

“It is really exciting and for the clubs in the lower divisions it’s the biggest game of the year for them as well. It’s fantastic and everybody is looking forward to the replay.

“I’m told they have a very passionate crowd down at Fratton Park and for me that’s all part of the experience and the kind of thing you have to cope with.

“It’s all part of football but we’ll be fully focused on our job and know what we have to do to get the win.

“The main thing for me and the others playing at Portsmouth is to get more games under our belt and to make sure we are fully match fit so that in the league, if we’re called upon, we’re in the right condition to come in and make a difference.

“In the first game we had a few boys who were thrown in having never played a game like that before and they will all be better for the experience.

“After getting that first game out of the way I guess a few nerves will have gone as well. We’ve been working hard in training this week on how to combat their way of playing so everybody’s ready and knows what they have to do.

“They always talk about making sure your first touch is a positive one and if you do that, if you have the right intentions, it can relax you a little bit and I’m sure all the boys will be looking for that to happen.”

Oar’s first experience of cup football with Town was in the Capital One Cup third round visit to Old Trafford in September when manager Mick McCarthy’s fringe stars pushed Louis van Gaal’s experienced line-up all the way before going down 3-0.

“That was a kind of a dream, to be making my Ipswich debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford,” he recalled.

“It was a fantastic experience and I thought that 3-0 was probably a little bit unflattering for us. Having said that, all the boys really enjoyed it as it was such a terrific experience.”

Apart from wanting to make the breakthrough at Ipswich the winger wants to win further senior international honours with Australia, adding: “We have a very young national team now. I’ve been involved for about six years, or something like that, so from that perspective I’ve got a fair bit of experience and I’ve played a lot of games.

“We have some World Cup qualifiers in March and other games throughout the year as well.

“The second stage of the qualification programme will start next season and we will have a few friendlies in the off-season. We also have the Confederations Cup, not this summer but the following summer, so there’s lots to look forward to.

“I haven’t had a chance to get back to Australia since I signed, except when I’ve been with the national team, but one thing that surprised me was when we had a signing session I saw a few Ipswich fans.

“I’d never noticed that before but I guess they get behind the guys who are playing in England so I think there are a few extra over there now.”

Photo: Action Images

legoman added 10:58 - Jan 19 Good interview. Make him captain if Smithy doesnt play.
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rinkydinkpanther added 12:53 - Jan 19 'The FA Cup is Still Special' - which is why we're playing our reserves to try and get us through to a home tie against a Premiership side.
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