Sheffield United star says FA Cup semi-final place is a bigger prize than Wembley
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Speaking ahead of United’s meeting with Rovers in the last eight of the competition, Egan told The Star he is more concerned about prolonging his club’s involvement than potentially appearing at the national stadium - where the next round is staged.
Egan has reached this stage three times since joining United from Brentford seven years ago, but has never progressed to the penultimate phase of games.
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Hide AdAdmitting “the carrot is going through, not going there”, he said: “We’re not respecting one competition over another. No matter who we are playing, no matter what we are playing in, we just want to go out there and win. It’s a great group to be a part of and hopefully we can keep that going.”
With the international break beginning next week, United’s next outing following their game against Rovers is at Norwich City on April 1st. Second in the Championship table and six points clear of third placed Middlesbrough after beating Sunderland in midweek, Paul Heckingbottom’s side are also chasing automatic promotion to the Premier League.
“People talk about focusing on the league,” Egan said. “But we’ve got to three quarter-finals in four years or so and that’s really good going consistency wise. The attitude we have is just to go out there and try and win. Nothing else.”
After beginning their cup journey by beating Millwall at The Den, United then required a replay to dispatch Wrexham before claiming Tottenham Hotspur’s scalp at Bramall Lane. Egan, capped 30 times by the Republic of Ireland, missed that fixture because of suspension but is available for selection against Rovers.
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Hide Ad“It’s a really good competition, the FA Cup and I seem to have done well in it,” he said. “It’s always just got a different feel to it. You’ve got ourselves, Blackburn, Burnley and Grimsby Town all involved in the last eight and throwing up ties like it has is really good for the game.”