LONDON Tottenham Hotspur will hope to ride the wave of Harry Redknapp euphoria as they seek to live up to their new-found status of FA Cup favourites when they travel to Stevenage this weekend.
With Premier League leaders and holders Manchester City ousted in the third round by Manchester United, who were then knocked out by Liverpool in the next round, Redknapps men are strongly fancied to win a first FA Cup since 1991.
Spurs make the short trip to the League One (third division) side whose reward for reaching the fifth round of the competition for the first time is a meeting with the big boys.
There is already one real circus in residence in Stevenage and on Sunday there will be a metaphorical one when Spurs fans, vocal in their pleas to Redknapp to stay with the club rather than fill the vacant England job, come to town.
Third in the league behind the two Manchester clubs, Spurs could be tempted to give some of their bigger names a rest before their north London derby against Arsenal the following weekend, but that will not dampen excitement around Stevenage.
There is a fantastic feeling. The feeling around the club is so good, Stevenage chief executive Bob Makin was quoted by local media as saying.
It is a familiar place for Spurs, whose reserve team used to play in Stevenage and who have plenty of fans living there, but there will be no room for sentiment as seven of the eight games feature Premier League sides against lower division opposition.
FA Cup Fixtures Tomorrow: Chelsea v Birmingham, Everton v Blackpool, Millwall v Bolton, Norwich v Leicester, Sunderland v Arsenal Sunday: Crawley Town v Stoke, Stevenage v Tottenham, Liverpool v Brighton
