Gillingham defender Alex Lacey has been talking ahead of the club’s Emirates FA Cup Third Round tie with Premier League Cardiff City.

Talking to KSN this week, Lacey told us, “It’s a distraction from the League, but one that we’ve worked hard to get. The circumstances are different to the first two rounds where we were the favourites to beat two non-league sides – now we’re the underdogs and so a lot of the pressure is off of us and is now on Cardiff come 3.00pm Saturday.”

“It’s a great competition to be in, especially at this stage when the big teams come in and hopefully we’ll be able to provide an upset.”

“I was involved in a good cup run when I was at Luton which was great and it would be good if we could have another one here. I’ve enjoyed playing over Christmas even though it’s only because of Max (Ehmer) being injured. I know how frustrating it is to watch on from the side and I knew if I got the chance, I’d have to take it and I’ve really enjoyed it.”

“It’s a fantastic competition to be a part of as teams play Premier League teams which they don’t usually play, and it creates fantastic atmospheres and there’s upsets along the way and hopefully we’ll be one come Saturday.”

“With the fans behind us as our 12th man, hopefully we can cause an upset acting as our motivation. The positivity that the fans can create around the stadium is brilliant and can drive us on and shows a togetherness and hopefully we can all pull together and create another page in Cup history and cause an upset!”

“We’ve had a mixed bag of performances over Christmas and perhaps we should have got more out of the games, but I do think the performances deserved more points. The Portsmouth game obviously we did very well in and we caused an upset there and the atmosphere was fantastic and if we can replicate that on Saturday, it will be fantastic and that would add to the pressure on Cardiff if we can make the atmosphere that bit more hostile.”

“When you get the Third Round and the big teams come in, you work towards an Arsenal or a Chelsea. But we’ve still come out with a Premier League side and have to be focused on that come Saturday which will be a tough test.”

“We know that if we are to get a result we’ll have to be a tough team to play against and with a hostile atmosphere we can force them into doing things, stay tight and stay together as a team – keep it tight and nick a goal – and then who knows.”