Hanson expects fired-up Reading in quarter-final

Reading will provide Bradford City with a sterner FA Cup test than Sunderland, according to striker James Hanson. 

League One Bradford have defied the odds to dump out Millwall, Chelsea and Sunderland and stand one game away from a return to Wembley, having also reached the League Cup final in 2013. 

While Reading may not have generated the same media attention after beating fellow Championship trio Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City and Derby County to reach the quarter-finals, Hanson expects them to be fired up when they arrive at Valley Parade on Saturday. 

“It’d be a brilliant achievement [reaching an FA Cup semi-final] from me and the lads, but we know it’s going to be a tough game, probably tougher than Sunderland in some respects because they are only one game from Wembley as well,” Hanson told Perform. 

“If you look at Reading, they are an established Championship side and full of players who have plied their trade at a higher level.

“It’s going to be a tough game and with it being only one game from Wembley, you’d like to think they’ll be more up for it than Sunderland were.”

Bradford go into the last-eight tie after ending a three-games winless streak with a 1-0 victory over Crawley Town on Tuesday that boosted the club’s play-off hopes. 

Hanson, who has netted nine league goals, added: “It’s nice to take a breather from that and focus on the FA Cup knowing that we got the win on Tuesday.”