Melville eyes revenge clash

Andy Melville knows the exact words he wants to hear at 1.30pm on Monday - “Fulham...will play Chelsea.”

The Cottagers captain is desperate to avenge last year’s 1-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat against their west London neighbours.

And Melville is using the possibility of a last-eight date with the Blues as motivation for tomorrow’s fifth-round clash with First Division Burnley at Loftus Road.

The Welsh international would love to beat the Lancastrians and be lined up against Claudio Ranieri’s side in the quarter-finals draw on Monday lunchtime.

“Chelsea have got to get through at Stoke and we’ve got to get through first,” he said.

“But if that happens and we play them, it’d be nice to get our revenge on them.”

Melville acknowledges the challenge posed by mid-table Burnley, who go into their first fifth-round FA Cup tie for 20 years on the back of a sunshine training camp in Portugal.

“How well we did last year is in the back of our minds – but we’ve got to win against Burnley first,” he said.

“We know some of their players from when we played them two years ago – and they’ve got players who could play in the Premiership.

“They had a good 1-0 win at Coventry at the weekend so will have sky-high confidence. It’ll be a difficult game.”

Fulham chief Jean Tigana has a fresh wave of suspension and injury worries to contend with against Stan Ternent’s men.

The biggest loss is winger Luis Boa Morte, man-of-the-match in Saturday’s 2-1 victory against Aston Villa, who serves a one-game ban for amassing five yellow cards.

Centre-back Zat Knight and midfielder Sylvain Legwinski are both sidelined with hamstring strains.

Midfielder Lee Clark, who has a torn right calf, will be back in training at the start of March.

But goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, out since before Christmas with a broken fourth metatarsal in his right foot, is sweating on another consultation with a specialist next week to discover whether he can begin his comeback.

Right-back Steve Finnan is expected to be fit to face Burnley after missing the Republic of Ireland’s 2-0 success in Scotland on Wednesday with ’flu.

Melville last night admitted Tigana’s expected exit in the summer could spark a mass clear-out of players.

Tigana is not the only man in the Cottagers camp who is out-of-contract in June, as no fewer eight players also have deals expiring then.

The French boss has yet to even discuss a contract extension with chairman Mohamed Al Fayed – and neither Tigana nor the Harrods supremo have given any indication they wish to extend their relationship.

Many fans expect Tigana to quit, a decision Melville believes could lead to an exodus from the dressing room.

The eight players whose deals run out in four months are Melville himself, Clark, Maik Taylor, Bjarne Goldbaek, John Collins and loan trio Martin Djetou, Junichi Inamoto and Pierre Wome.

Steve Marlet also warned this week that Tigana’s departure would affect him, Legwinski, Steed Malbranque, Louis Saha and Alain Goma.

“Tigana brought all the French players to the club and it’s true to wonder what will happen if he leaves,” he said. “Our destiny is linked to his.”

Melville added: “I’m playing for my future and it’s up to me to go out between now and the end of the season and prove myself.

“Who knows what’s going to happen with everyone else? Everyone’s in a different situation.

“The new manager, or the manager that’s here now, will have decisions to make.”