FA Cup: Clark targets glory

Lee Clark hopes to return to action in time to get into the stride of Fulham’s FA Cup run.

Clark has been sidelined since Boxing Day with an Achilles problem but hopes to be back in time for the Londoners’ March quarter-final with West Brom.

Fulham, who face Middlesbrough tonight at the Riverside Stadium, have managed to edge into the last eight without him.

But the £3m (€4.9m) former Newcastle midfielder is keen to ensure a first FA Cup final appearance in 27 years for the Craven Cottage club.

Clark said: ‘‘I am not saying it will take me three weeks to get back, I will be disappointed if it is not sooner than that.

‘‘I have not joined in training with the rest of the team yet but I have started running again and there has been no reaction.

‘‘I am taking it easy because the injury kept me out for three weeks earlier in the season and it has plagued me a bit.

‘‘It has been really frustrating and I was on a bit of a downer but I was told to have complete rest and the last few days have been more positive.

‘‘I cannot wait to get back and it would be nice to be involved in the FA Cup because I have not played in it this season and the team are doing really well.’’

Lifting the FA Cup would, of course, deliver a European place next season.

Yet assistant manager Christian Damiano has not given up all hope of claiming such a place through Premier League position.

Fulham eased to the Nationwide League Division One title last year and are currently in a healthy mid-table position after two-thirds of the campaign.

It would be a tall order to secure a UEFA berth a place goes only to the team who finish fifth at the moment, although sixth would be enough if one of the teams in the top five at the end of the season also lifted the FA Cup.

And now, with 13 league games remaining, Damiano whose team are eight points below sixth-placed Leeds has spoken of the belief and confidence in the Fulham camp.

‘‘The Middlesbrough match is a very important one for us,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re in front of them (in the table), but they’ll be a difficult team to play.

‘‘We need to have a lot of good results to get into Europe and that aim is still far away.

‘‘We’ve almost achieved our first objective of staying in the Premier League and after that, we have other targets. There’s a long way to go until the end of the season.

‘‘In this competition, the title often goes down to the last two or three games and it’s the same for every other position.

‘‘Our players have good confidence and the group is very together, but it’s difficult to talk about Europe just yet.’’

Meanwhile, the match at the Riverside comes too early for Portugal forward Luis Boa Morte, who has remained in the capital due to his ankle injury.