Town goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski will be making his second FA Cup appearance against Portsmouth when he returns to the starting line-up for Saturday’s third round clash at Portman Road.
Bialkowski was in the Notts County side that won 2-0 at Fratton Park in November 2012 and as a former Southampton keeper he knows what to expect from the visiting Pompey fans this weekend.
He smiled: "Yes, I have played against them before when I was with Notts and I remember I got some stick from their fans.
"But that’s how it is in football, it’s pretty normal and I don’t mind that. Stick — or banter — from the away fans, I don’t have a problem with it. It can even help to drive you on.”
Bialkowski is coming in from the cold for Town, having only played once since August — in the Capital One Cup defeat at Manchester United in September — with his last FA Cup action coincidentally having come in the third round replay defeat to the Saints at Portman Road almost a year ago.
He added: "I can’t really remember my longest FA Cup run but it is two or three games I think.
"When I was in Poland I was following the Premier League and I wasn’t paying that much attention to the FA Cup but since coming to England I have learned more about it and I know it is probably the biggest cup competition in the world. It’s really massive, which I know from being here in England for a few years now.”
Bialkowski’s first taste of the competition came 10 years ago when he was in the Southampton side that triumphed 1-0 at Leicester and he was also in the side that lost by the same margin to Newcastle, the game’s only goal being scored by a certain Kieron Dyer.
He was in the Saints’ side that won at Northampton in November 2009 and the following season he helped them to eliminate Cheltenham and Blackpool before being knocked out by Manchester United at St Mary’s.
He also had a three-game run in the 2011/12 campaign, winning at Coventry, drawing at Millwall and then losing to the Lions in a replay on the south coast.
Meanwhile, the Polish keeper believes fellow countryman Piotr Malarczyk, who could also feature against Portsmouth this weekend as McCarthy is expected to make several changes, is ready to play on a regular basis if required.
Bialkowski said: "Piotr is getting stronger and getting to understand English football much better than he did a few months ago.
"He is working really hard in training and I think he’s ready. Even his English is getting better and that’s a good thing because he is communicating better with all the other players.
"We have tried to speak to each other in Polish in the dressing room but the other lads have been getting on to us and said we can only speak English in there. So when we speak it’s a mixture of Polish and English.”