Ipswich Town assistant Martyn Pert fully focused on Fulham cup tie

Ipswich Town assistant manager Martyn Pert is fully focused on tonight’s game against Fulham, rather than the fact that his side are competing for a place in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

The Blues have already seen off Bristol Rovers, Reading and Wolves to reach the fourth round of the competition, doing so for the first time since 2010/11.

With Marco Silva’s Cottagers travelling to Portman Road this evening, Town have a genuine chance to progress deep into the competition, although Pert has stressed that they’re taking each game at a time rather than looking too far ahead.“I’ve enjoyed the games,

but I don’t think about the run until you get to the next game and think, ‘oh yeah, we’ve won three games already’, he said ahead of the match.

“It’s been really good for the players who’ve played in those games because a lot of the league games have had similar teams, so it’s been really good for everyone to get minutes.

“They’ve also been minutes that have been successful on the pitch, so it’s been really good in that respect.

“Of course, we’re looking forward to a Premier League side coming to Portman Road on Wednesday night, which is exciting.

“I think we take each game as it comes, then get excited for the prep, the planning and going into the game to take it head on.

“We’ll worry about the outcome once the game is over.”

While Ipswich are confident, they aren’t the favourites going into tonight’s game. Fulham boast a number of top-end Premier League players and have already seen off Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City in the earlier rounds.

Regardless of what happens, Pert sees the game as a good chance for the players to test themselves against Premier League opposition, which is the level Town want to reach sooner rather than later.

“I’m really looking forward to facing Fulham,” he stated. “I worked there in 2009 for a short time, so it’s always nice to play against teams that you haven’t faced that often recently.

“It’ll be nice to play them, and obviously they’ve got a lot of good players coming to Portman Road.

“It’ll be a challenge for us, but one we’re looking forward to.”