Jol edges closer to Cup 'dream'

Martin Jol is three matches away from realising the "dream" of winning an FA Cup after Tottenham swept Fulham aside in their fifth-round tie at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

The north London club have slipped into the bottom half of the Barclays Premiership but the 4-0 rout, with Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov both scoring twice, has given cause for optimism that the club can end their eight-year trophy drought - with a place in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup also secured.

"It will be very important for us to do something special this year," said Jol.

Spurs have a rich tradition in the FA Cup but have not won it in 16 years - since the days of Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker - and Jol can seen similarities between the two campaigns.

"They had a similar year in 1991 with Terry Venables, in 25 games they had only three wins and at the end of the year they won the FA Cup. If we could do that it would be a dream," Jol said.

Jol never made it to an FA Cup as a player but spoke earlier in the season of how he believed the competition to be the best competition in Europe.

While Gascoigne was the hero of the 1991 team, Keane is emerging as this season's talisman, and he has scored in every round. The Republic of Ireland striker lashed home twice, both from Mido flick-ons, before Berbatov came off the bench for his two strikes.

Fulham's miserable day was compounded when Vincenzo Montella was dismissed for a clash with Keane in stoppage time.

"It was a sending off," said Fulham boss Chris Coleman. "He raised an elbow and caught Robbie Keane in the mush - it's a sending off, I can't hide behind that. We'll be without Vincenzo for three games and that is disappointing because we'll only have him for eight games remaining in the season."

Coleman was furious with his side's defending, and he added: "It was unacceptable, I can't accept that and I don't think they will either."