After a spell in the doldrums, Dundee United boss Csaba Laszlo believes his players have the chance to create positive news in the cup at Aberdeen on Sunday.
The United gaffer knows his side will go into the fifth-round trip to Pittodrie as massive underdogs.
And their chances of pulling off a victory have not been helped by the recent run of just one win in five league outings dating back to the end of December.
Their only other success in that period was a comfortable, if less than spectacular, win at Alloa in the fourth round of the cup.
Csaba, though, is in bullish mood as he prepares for Sunday.
“The reality is that Aberdeen are the favourites. There is a gap between them and us,” he said.
“They play in the Premier while we are in the Championship.
“They are in the second position in their league and we are in second in ours.
“So we want to go up and they want to stay in their position and go into Europe. Both teams have positive targets but they are different ones.
“There is the gap, too, between the clubs financially but this is a good possibility to fight back a little bit and make positive headlines.”
Csaba, meanwhile, has revealed it’s business as usual for him and his players despite last week’s news Tannadice chairman Stephen Thompson will stand down at the end of the season.
Despite it being Thompson who brought him to the club, he has not been unsettled by the developments.
“If you ask me about the chairman I can’t give you any news because everyone has to make a decision and this does not affect our work.
“We have a chairman and I talked to the players and said that the biggest gift we can give him is to bring the team back to the Scottish Premier League.
“That is all. You have to think like this and this is the most important thing for me.
“It is not important what title you have. What matters is that you protect your team, help your team and love your team.”
The draw for the quarter-finals will take place at Pittodrie after Sunday’s game.
Perhaps expecting a home win, the SFA have fixed up ex-Don Russell Anderson and Scotland ladies skipper Rachel Corsie to make the draw.
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