Bournemouth skipper Steve Cook saw his troops handed an FA Cup showdown with south coast neighbours Saints and insisted: “We owe them one.” The last time the two sides met was in the Premier League back in July – Saints emerging 2-0 victors to all but send the Dorset club out of the top flight.
Steve Cook said: “We owe them one from last year where they more or less relegated us. There will be something to prove. That adds a bit more extra incentive to what’s already there.”
Steve Cook added: “We are really excited. It was a great draw for us and hopefully we can take it one step further and see where it leads to. We’ve got a very difficult game against Southampton. We won’t look too much further than that but it’s definitely exciting for the group. It’s an exciting time again to be a Bournemouth player and it’s a huge shame the fans aren’t with us to see if they can get us over the line, because the atmosphere would have been brilliant. Whether or not we can get to Wembley, maybe the fans will be back in time by then? I don’t know. Until then, we will enjoy the ride and maybe enjoy it with the fans eventually.”
The last-eight ties are set to be played on the weekend of Saturday, March 20. Cherries beat Burnley 2-0 on Tuesday night to reach the quarter-final stage for the first time in 64 years.
Steve Cook said: “Years gone by we have kind of faltered in the FA Cup and gone out in the third round. That was disappointing for the supporters and the team as well. But reaching now a quarter-final, and that’s history in itself – we haven’t done it for a long, long time and we have earned an opportunity to progress – hopefully with a home draw, it’s exciting.”
Saints set up the showdown thanks to a 2-0 victory at Wolves. Danny Ings and Stuart Armstrong were on target for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.
