Cup warhorse back in the spotlight

JOHN PEMBERTON will be instilling a belief in his Nottingham Forest players that they can pull off an FA Cup upset at Manchester City tomorrow.

The former Chadderton defender, who will be in charge of the Forest team until new boss Billy Davies takes over the reins on Monday, knows from personal experience what it is like to be a giantkiller.

The 44-year-old reserve-team manager, who was asked to take interim control of Forest’s first team after Colin Calderwood’s Boxing Day dismissal, recalls the exploits of Crystal Palace.

Pemberton, who was raised in Chadderton, said: “When I was at Palace we were fighting relegation from the First Division when we reached the final in 1990 so I know silly things can happen.

“We beat Liverpool in the semi-final, having earlier in the season lost 9-0 to them in the league, so the cup does throw up interesting results.”

Pemberton could hardly have made a better start to his short spell in the hot seat.

His team won 3-2 at Norwich City in his first match, a victory which lifted them out of the relegation places in the Coca-Cola Championship.

Pemberton made five changes from the previous game, even calling up left-back Joe Heath, who had been sent home for Christmas along with his Academy team-mates.

“We had a number of players affected by injury and illness and I simply wanted to freshen up the team,” he said.

Pemberton admitted it had been a difficult time following the dismissal of Calderwood and his No. 2 David Westlake.

“I had to go in and pick the players up. I gave them jobs to do, which they did excellently, and I got a really good response.”

Pemberton is relishing the prospect of trying to get the better of opposite number Mark Hughes and his team which contains world-class players like Robinho and Elano.

He said: “I am excited because I have never played, coached or managed at Eastlands, and the only time I have visited has been while scouting.

“We have a really young side with an average age of 20 years, five months and I will be interested to see how the players react to playing on such a big stage.

“I know what the players can and cannot do. I will be keeping things as simple as possible and telling the lads to go out and enjoy themselves.”

Pemberton, who has been working with the Academy youngsters at the City Ground for 10 years, spent Christmas Day in Oldham visiting his father and family.

And victory tomorrow would be particularly sweet, given he was a boyhood fan of Manchester United, for whom he played as a junior.

“Many of my mates in Oldham are City fans and since the draw I have had a lot of calls from them.

“If we win I am going to be slaughtered by them,” he joked.