AFC Bournemouth
Head coach Andoni Iraola is anticipating a “very demanding game” as his AFC Bournemouth class of 2024 bid to add their names to the club’s FA Cup roll of honour.
The Cherries will be looking to reach the fifth round for only the sixth time in their history when they host Swansea City at Vitality Stadium on Thursday (7.45pm kick-off).
Iraola will be hoping to carve his name alongside the five bosses to have achieved the feat – Frank Richards (1928/29), Freddie Cox (1956/57), Harry Redknapp (1988/89), Eddie Howe (2015/16) and Jason Tindall (2020/21).
Having accounted for Watford, Wolves, Hartlepool, Portsmouth and Crawley during those previous cup runs, Iraola will be keen to see his charges add Swansea to the list, the team he claimed his first win as Cherries head coach against.
Matt Grimes drew first blood for the hosts from the penalty spot when the teams did battle in South Wales in the second round of the Carabao Cup in August.
Goals from David Brooks and Hamed Traorè gave the Cherries the lead before Ryan Christie netted a dramatic late winner after Jamie Paterson had levelled for the hosts 11 minutes from time.
Since then, the Championship outfit have parted company with boss Michael Duff and replaced him with Luke Williams, who piloted Notts County to promotion to League Two last season.
Williams was in the dugout for the first time when Swansea booked a trip to Vitality Stadium after easing to a 2-0 win against League Two outfit Morecambe in the third round earlier this month.
The 42-year-old, who worked under Russell Martin at Swansea and MK Dons, likes his teams to play attacking, possession-based football and Iraola is expecting a different test from the visitors.
Second-half goals from Marcus Tavernier, Kieffer Moore and Justin Kluivert saw Iraola’s team come from behind to triumph 3-2 against QPR in the third round after they had been trailing 2-0 at the break.
Previewing the game, Iraola said: “You want to progress in every cup game and I think it’s a good opportunity for us.
“But as we saw against QPR with two mistakes in two minutes, this can happen anytime you go on the pitch and you are almost out of the competition.
“We know Swansea from the Carabao Cup but we are facing a team which has changed manager and they have changed their style a little bit.
“It’s not going to be easy for us to prepare for the game because they have different tactical approaches.
“We haven’t had a lot of time to prepare and we have to be very ready because I think, tactically, it will be a very demanding game for us.”
