By Andy West, Head Of Communications

Recently our commitment to the FA Cup has been questioned, but as anybody who witnessed our performance at White Hart Lane should be able to attest, we care a great deal about our progress in this competition.

The FA Cup is a very important competition for us, for the following reasons:

1. We could win it. Of course it's unlikely and no team outside the 'big four' has lifted the trophy since 1995, but Millwall, Southampton and West Ham have reached the final in recent years, so why not Reading?

It could be argued that, along with consolidating our league status, winning a significant competition is the next major step in the continued development of Reading FC - we've got a new stadium, we've got Premier League status, now let's win something.

Yes, winning the FA Cup is a dream, but dreams can come true (106 points in 2005/6, eighth placed finish in our first top flight season, beating Liverpool in the Premier League?) so let's dream on!

2. Competition for places. Steve Coppell got some criticism from the media for naming a 'weakened' team at White Hart Lane and this is an interesting topic.

As Steve has stated on many occasions, the transfer window means that Premier League clubs have to fill their squads with more players than they would otherwise choose to - you simply can't afford to suffer a string of injuries in mid-September and leave yourself with a thin squad and no opportunity to add to it.

As a result you're forced to overstock with a squad of at least 22 senior players (providing cover in each position), and unless you do suffer injuries then the inevitable consequence is that four or five players don't even make the matchday squad of 16.

Those players aren't necessarily any better or worse than those in the team, they are just the ones through circumstance who aren't playing.

They could easily become disillusioned and disturb the atmosphere and spirit within the squad, so the FA Cup is the perfect opportunity to give them a chance to play and state their case for inclusion every week.

Just a quick look at some of the players that we included in our team at Tottenham shows that it is harsh for it to be considered 'weakened':

Adam Federici - earned plaudits in our FA Cup run last season but has had to wait patiently behind Marcus Hahnemann. Recently in the full Australia squad.

Liam Rosenior - England under 21 international and significant summer signing who has been unable to dislodge skipper Graeme Murty from the right back berth.

Michael Duberry - Arguably our best defender in the first few months of the season before being ruled out by injury.

Ulises De La Cruz - One of the greatest players in Ecuador's history and still as fit as a fiddle.

Kalifa Cisse - Summer signing who is starting to establish himself in the team, but well aware that Brynjar Gunnarsson is now back from suspension.

Emerse Fae - the Club's most expensive signing in August but so far unable to break into Steve Coppell's team on a consistent basis.

Shane Long - Has shown huge promise from the bench but wants to elevate himself from 'supersub' tag.

Leroy Lita - Very impressive last season and one of the biggest hits of last summer's Euro Under 21 tournament but has seen very little first team action this season.

Lita may be the most high profile, but all those players were absolutely desperate to play at White Hart Lane. More than that, they believe they should be in the team every week and approached the game with a mission - 'show Steve Coppell why he should be picking me.'

Yes, the team was much-changed, but weakened? Try telling Leroy Lita that he is 'weaker' than Kevin Doyle or Dave Kitson, or Emerse Fae that he doesn't deserve to be in the matchday 16-man squad, or Liam Rosenior/Adam Federici that they might as well sit around and wait until Graeme Murty/Marcus Hahnemann decide to retire.

Although it is a team game and the best teams are exactly that, footballers are also highly motivated by personal success and ambitions, and our team at Tottenham contained a lot of individuals with a lot of points to prove.

Those factors combined to guarantee 100% commitment, resulting in the determined display that earned a draw at White Hart Lane (something the 'full-strength' team was unable to achieve just seven days previously).

3. A good cup run is a brilliant way of increasing the profile of the club on a local, national and global level.

Our replay with Manchester United last season was shown live on terrestrial television on BBC1 and the thrilling game was a superb showpiece for the team, the stadium and the club in general.

We already know that if we triumph in Tuesday's replay, our fourth round tie at Manchester United will also be shown live on BBC1 on Sunday 27th.

We have stated our aspirations to become one of the ten biggest clubs in the country, and that process would be very much accelerated by a couple of quarter-final/semi-final appearances. Defeating Spurs in Tuesday's replay would seriously enhance our credibility - even more so if we then perform well at Old Trafford in the next round.

There's also a significant financial pay-out from the TV companies for clubs whose FA Cup games are shown live, which leads into?

4. Revenue. Unlike the Premier League, gate revenue for FA Cup ties is split evenly between the two competing clubs, so the competition is a real money-spinner.

The maths are simple - 35,000 people at White Hart Lane, paying on average say £17 each = £600,000, divided by two = £300,000 per club. That's a lot of money, with a replay to follow, and hopefully a trip to Old Trafford to follow that.

To put it into context, making good progress in the FA Cup could generate the revenue to make a signing of the calibre of Marek Matejowsky.

So don't worry about our attitude to the FA Cup. We care intensely about the competition, and the replay against Spurs is a fixture we are hugely looking forward to and will be giving everything to win.