Kovacs relishing prospect of Shittu battle

Defender Janos Kovacs is relishing the chance to lock horns with Millwall’s Danny Shittu during Saturday’s FA Cup fifth round tie at Kenilworth Road, writes Mike Simmonds.

The imposing centre half is something of a cult hero at the Den after joining from Queens Park Rangers in the summer as Kovacs said: “They’re Championship level, they play much higher than us, so everyone will be a good player.

“Of course there’s a few names in there, like Shittu, the big lad, so I’m looking forward to having a good battle with him, and see if I can come out a winner.”

Although Town go into the game as huge underdogs, after knocking out Norwich and Wolves, Kovacs believes they have every chance of reaching the quarter-finals.

He continued: “Anyone can beat anyone. We’re not the first team to show this and I’m pretty sure we won’t be the last one as well.

“Everybody was dreaming about a massive, massive Premier League side, we got Millwall, but we got Millwall at home, so we’ve got a chance.”

Kenilworth Road is bound to be rocking once more with the game a sell-out and Kovacs can’t wait to sample the red-hot atmosphere as he did against Wolves.

He said: “It’s going to be a full house. Everyone’s looking forward to these kinds of games, I’m pretty sure we’ll give our best go.

“Our fans will be fully behind us so anything can happen.

Kovacs is virtually much guaranteed a starting berth with Steve McNulty cup-tied, Lathaniel Rowe-Turner suspended, and Wayne Thomas’ international clearance still not arrived.

The Hungarian will be trying to not let the occasion get the better of him though as he said: “I don’t know yet what the starting line up will be, but I’ve got a good chance.

“I’m looking forward to it, but just try to take it like another game. I don’t want to get over excited, I want to keep myself calm.

“As soon as you get carried away then it can cause a problem.”

Both sides have seen their league form dip after beating Premier League opposition in the last round of the competition but Kovacs will allow himself a day off from worrying about promotion as added: “We’re struggling in the league at the moment. So I’ll try to forget the league just for this game now and see where we are after Saturday then go to the next one.”

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