Pearce plays down Irons' cup win

West Ham's veteran defender Stuart Pearce refused to get carried away after his side booked their place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.  

After going to Old Trafford and beating favourites Manchester United in the previous round, Frederic Kanoute's strike on 76 minutes was enough to knock Sunderland out at the Stadium of Light.

However, the former Nottingham Forest stalwart maintained the Hammers were not dreaming of the Millennium Stadium just yet.

"Our name is in the hat. Let's just leave it at that," said the 38-year-old former England international.

"We had a very tough game today and the whole competition has been tough for us.

"It probably helped us with them having one or two out, but we're in the hat."

Pearce also paid tribute to the West Ham fans who had made another long journey to cheer their team on.

"There is something special about the FA Cup. Maybe it was not the best of games to watch. It was a bit of a scrap and when you get the away support coming to watch it is brilliant for us."

Pearce was part of the Forest side which was beaten in the 1991 FA Cup final by Tottenham and he admitted he thought that the opportunity to play another final had passed him by.

He told Sky Sports: "I didn't think I would get another chance at 32, let alone 38. But we are ticking along alright and we worked well today, so I think we deserved the victory."