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The real truth about what EFL clubs think of FA Cup replays and how they hide the fact they're happy to lose - managers candidly reveal to IAN LADYMAN why, sometimes, being knocked out is the best option

Related Topics: FA Cup, Thomas Frank

All football managers want to win but sometimes in recent years it has felt better to lose than to draw.

Not in the moment, no. In the moment a defeat is a defeat and it hurts. But in the FA Cup a draw has traditionally meant a replay and the truth is that for many involved in the cut and thrust of the modern game, replay had become a dirty word.

Welcome to the other side of a debate that continues to swirl around the margins of the English game at this time of year.