Glenn Murray aims to fill a CV gap by reaching FA Cup semis

Has he really forgotten all about Woking and FC United of Manchester?

He made seven starts in one season back in 2010-11, sharing in the drama of a penalty shoot-out and two upsets.

There was the glamour tie at a Premier League club.

But it was only the Britannia Stadium while Crawley, on the same afternoon, got Old Trafford.

Still, we all got to the bigger stages eventually, didn’t we?

That was thanks to success in the league, where you get what you deserve and there is no luck of the draw.

Now to fill in some gaps for both Murray and Albion.

The striker’s comment about no great FA Cup runs referred, of course, to the latter stages of the competition.

One appearance in the last eight, as a 76th-minute sub at Old Trafford last season, bears that out.

His goals tally since a debut in the competition back on November 5, 2005, as a sub for Carlisle at Cheltenham is a modest eight, compared to 188 in the league.

But he confesses to a fondness for the old competition.

All is not quite what it seems from the numbers.

For a start, that bit about never having a great run.

Glenn Murray celebrates his first FA Cup goal for Albion, at Wycombe in 2009

Back in that 2010-11 campaign, he won through four rounds – one more than Albion have managed last season or this year so far.

He started all seven ties Albion played, which is almost half of his FA Cup starts.

That was as a League One player and helped the Seagulls through to Stoke in the fifth round.

They survived replays away to two non-league teams in Woking and FC United after draws at Withdean.

And they beat two Championship outfits in Portsmouth and Watford.

Or what about that goal tally?

Eight is, indeed, modest. Four in his last 67 minutes of action, going back to when he went on as sub against Crystal Palace in the third round last season, is rather more impressive.

But then, it is not really 67 minutes.

Those minutes have all come from appearances as sub.

So he has also played five lots of added time which don’t show up on the stats.

But, even if it is four goals in, say, 90 minutes, that is still some going.

What about the goals tally? Officially eight – but he has found the net nine times.

It was Murray who converted the first penalty in the shootout at Woking (pictured below).

Perhaps promisingly for Sunday, all but one of his FA Cup goals have come in away ties.

The exception was that late winner against Palace last season.

He followed by netting the winner at Middlesbrough and then, this term, scoring two at West Brom.

His first ever FA Cup goals were also on the road with Albion, hitting two in a 4-4 draw at Wycombe in 2009 under the caretaker management of Martin Hinshelwood.

And the two he scored for other clubs? Away to Birmingham for Bournemouth and at Stoke for Palace.

Murray could make only the 17th FA Cup start of his career when Albion venture into The Den.

But he is a connoisseur of the cup and enjoys the nuances of how teams treat it round by round.

Murray told The Argus: “This and last year is the furthest I’ve been. I’ve never had a great FA Cup run.

“As an older player I have a fondness for the FA Cup.

“It gets a lot of bad press over the last three or four seasons with people putting weaker teams out, things like that.

“But I think when it gets to this point all the teams who remain are taking it 100% seriously.

“Credit to our club. When we have been at home, we have given cut-price tickets and that has meant good gates.

“That makes the competition feel good as well, when you get more people there. It’s just a great opportunity for us.”

Albion’s run to the last eight a year ago started at a time when they were struggling for league wins.

Murray said then that those cup wins and the occasional Prem draw ensured there was never a feeling in the camp of being on a bad run, even when three-point hauls were not coming.

This season, they have used the knockout competition as a chance to give players minutes they want.

It has been viewed as a way to help the league season and give new fans a chance to see the team.

This is about the time things start to change.

Talk of 1983 all over again has eased around Brighton although the Seagulls are by no means safe yet.

But Murray agrees wins over Huddersfield and Crystal Palace have eased some tension.

He said: “We are getting there but we are not completely safe yet.

“The Premier League can be punishing, as we have found out over the past 12 weeks and if you go on another bad run and don’t pick up another point you can be in jeopardy again.

“You have got to try and keep moving forward but these last two games have taken a bit of pressure off us, yes.

“The Premier League can be quite punishing like that.

“You have to keep your nerve and we kept doing what we were doing and things have turned round for us. Six points in two games changes the whole aspect of it.”