THIS has been a season to forget in many ways but the FA Cup has given Rovers fans at least one reason to be cheerful.

Premier League ‘scalps’ of Swansea and Stoke, the latter getting a good old fashioned drubbing, and an excellent goalless draw at Anfield have given us something to cling to in a league season that has drifted into nothingness.

And how good would it feel to take yet another scalp against a suspension-hit Liverpool side that suffered a beating on Saturday, while Rovers prepared with an excellent thumping away win at Leeds.

The beauty of games like these are that there is no pressure.

If Liverpool turn it on and we come away defeated then nobody is going to complain. They are a top Premier League side and we are not. Pure and simple.

But if we can turn in another performance like the others we have – at times frustratingly – reserved for the cup competition this season, anything is possible.

And at a time when money is becoming an issue, which is a bit of a novelty for us having enjoyed two decades of financial security since the Jack Walker takeover, the financial rewards of this game are huge.

A sold-out Ewood Park and the cash prize of reaching the quarter-final is lucrative enough, but a trip to Wembley really would make a big difference.

Whatever has gone before this season, there will be a great carnival atmosphere at Ewood tomorrow night with plenty of noise from both ends of the ground.

And whatever the result, it will be great for Rovers fans to enjoy that big game atmosphere once more.

Meanwhile, Rovers have a real pedigree at bringing through youth players, with David Dunn, Damien Duff and Phil Jones just three of the highlights of a successful academy in recent years.

And thankfully it looks set to continue, with the extremely highly rated David Raya keeping a clean sheet having been called upon at the last minute to fill the goalkeeper’s jersey at Elland Road on Saturday.

Raya won a lot of fans during a successful spell at Southport and hopefully will be able to continue that as he pushes to break in to our first team squad.