Sunday 21 February 2016 20:43, UK
Alan Pardew hopes a lengthy FA Cup run acts as a catalyst for Crystal Palace's continued development as an established Premier League club.
The Eagles booked their place in the quarter-finals of this season's competition with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane on Sunday, sealed by Martin Kelly's strike in first-half stoppage time.
The FA Cup has been the only source of joy at Selhurst Park in recent months, with Palace winless in the Premier League since December 19.
And Pardew, who was part of Palace's famous run to the final in 1990, believes a similar cup run will only boost the club's ambitions of prosperity.
"A lot of our fans have a great history of the FA Cup, even though we never actually won it," Pardew said in his post-match press conference.
"For myself, Steve [Parish] and our new owners, it's about building a club and we mustn't get ahead of ourselves.
"We are trying to build a club, and a great cup run - semi-finals or the final - can gain you support and build the club. That is what we are trying to do.
"I said to the players in the dressing room, 'You won't know the effect and the impact the FA Cup has until you reach the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. Then you understand the romance of this competition'."
Palace were rewarded for their victory at Spurs with a quarter-final tie at Sky Bet Championship side Reading.
In contrast to their three previous cup-ties this season, the draw for the last eight presents the Eagles with a favourable route into the semi-finals.
The tie sees Pardew return to another of his former clubs, having managed the Royals from 1999 to 2003.
"The draw has not been kind on us - Southampton away, Stoke at home and Spurs away has taken some doing. We had a bit of luck today, when Alli hit both posts, so hopefully that continues," Pardew added.
"We learned some lessons from the two Tottenham games before. We changed the shape so we didn't get pushed back so far but in doing that, we had to release our full-backs to get forward. To get that goal from a full-back shows the kind of intent that we had."
