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Chelsea Official Site WILKINS: IT HAS TO BE CHELSEA
Ray Wilkins, a man who knows plenty about the two clubs contesting today's FA Cup west London derby, has given his verdict on this afternoon's likely outcome.
Chelsea's youngest ever captain and the former Queens Park Rangers player and manager was at Stamford Bridge this week to speak about the third round clash.
He offered an objective view on a fixture where Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers will play each other for the first time since 1996, back when Wilkins was the Hoops' manager.
'I was taught to play by Chelsea, I coached at Chelsea and I was sacked by Chelsea and I played for QPR and I was sacked at QPR so I have immense affection for both clubs,' said Wilkins.
He has kept his eye on Chelsea's neighbours since their relegation from top-flight football in 1996 and believes they could soon return to the Barclays Premier League under the new investment from Bernie Ecclestone and Fabio Briatore.
'They have bought in players who are used to our football. I mean you look at Akos Buzsaky, their new Hungarian signing. He has been playing in England for four years and he knows how our football is played and he's a very talented man as well.
'They have brought in Luigi De Canio from Italy as manager, he is obviously a man who knows his stuff and the last couple of weeks the results would bear that out as they have done exceedingly well.'
Looking further back, Wilkins recalls at time when the balance of power in west London football was different.
'I can remember playing QPR when they had a team with the likes of Gerry Francis and Don Givens and it was a very tough game for us to play, we were the underdog, but that's all changed.
'Saturday will be a crunch game, but that's from a supporter's point of view, the players want to just get out there and win but for the QPR supporters, it would have to be the big one.
'But, you have to be a realist in this world and you would have to go for Chelsea on Saturday.
'You have to score at least one goal here to get a result because Chelsea always score a goal.
'If you look towards their performance against Fulham the other day, the character that they showed in the second half was outstanding.
'That's something you get with top quality footballers, they have a pride in their performance and they would have known at half time that it wasn't good enough. They wanted to stay on the tails of Manchester United and Arsenal and they knew they had to win.'
Finally, before QPR make the three-and-a-half mile journey to the Bridge, the former midfielder reveals his prediction for tomorrow's game and expresses his hopes for an old fashioned local showdown.
'I think Chelsea will win by a couple of goals but I hope QPR put up a really good show.' Chelsea