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FA CUP: Parkinson wants Bradford to play with freedom at Reading

Bradford City manager Phil Parkinson has implored his side to play with no fear in their FA Cup clash with Reading on Monday night.

The League One Bantams meet Championship side Reading at the Madejski Stadium in the quarter-final and Parkinson hopes his outfit can really soak up the occasion as they look to book a Wembley meeting with Arsenal in the final four.

"I think some people almost got a bit confused in the first game by classing ourselves as favourites," Parkinson said on the club's official website.

"Reading probably have a budget 10 times as big as ours and facing them at this stage of the FA Cup is another great challenge for us.

"We sit down with the players before these big matches against the better teams and we discuss with them what we need to show out on the pitch.

"The challenges we've had so far this season - Leeds, Millwall, Sunderland and Chelsea - we've rose to them, and we will need to do that again on Monday night.

"We won't go there in fear. We know the pressure will be on Reading after getting the draw at our place and we can go there and be relaxed in our play without that taking anything away from the intensity of our play.

"There is no pressure on us. It is just great to be in a game of this size.

"There will be a large number of players and managers watching the game on television very envious of us when we run out in front of a packed Madejski Stadium with one side only 90 minutes away from Wembley."

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