FA Cup: The cup is very important to us -Tigana

Jean Tigana has stressed the importance of the FA Cup to Fulham.

And he has underlined the role of Wembley in the competition's history.

Tigana was speaking after Steve Marlet's late equaliser had saved the Cottagers in a 2-2 draw at Wycombe.

"The FA Cup is very important to us," said Tigana.

"When I played, I know it's a long time ago, my dream was always to play at Wembley in a final.

"There have been so many finals at Wembley. I hope they build the new stadium because it has the stories, for me that is very important.

"A lot of foreign players are very excited to play in the competition because in France we always used to watch the final at Wembley."

Tigana insisted he had not underestimated the challenge of Wycombe and revealed he had also sought the help of Gerard Houllier, the Liverpool manager who overcame the Second Division club in the semi-final last season before going on to win the trophy against Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium.

"The players knew what to expect. They knew from the results Wycombe had last year," said Tigana.

"I had spoken with Gerard Houllier about how big a problem it was to win against this team. I respect them. We had the same preparation as always.

"Sometimes the small teams play at the top level and sometimes the professionals don't have a good focus.

"We get games like this all the time in France. Last year you had Amiens in the final and the year before Calais."

But Tigana insisted his priority was to stay in the Premiership.