Captain Ryan Shawcross has revealed that a speech from Ricardo Fuller inspired Stoke City to a 5-0 victory in their FA Cup semi-final against Bolton."He slipped in a bit of Martin Luther King as usual," defender Shawcross told BBC Radio Stoke. "It was a very good speech and it got us going.
"He's been here a long while so it was nice for him to get on the pitch."
Fuller came on a late substitute at Wembley as Stoke booked their place in the final against Manchester City.
The Potters had never gone beyond the last four in their 148-year history, but blew Bolton away with a stunning display on Sunday.
Matthew Etherington, Robert Huth and Kenwyne Jones gave Stoke a 3-0 lead at half-time and then Jonathan Walters netted twice in the second period to complete a famous victory.
Former Manchester United trainee Shawcross, 23, became a father a few days prior to the semi-final.
He said: "The baby's not been too well so there were a few mixed emotions at the end. I came in straight away to check on her because I wanted to make sure she was alright.
"She's doing well, to lead a team out at Wembley is fantastic and to go to the final as well is fantastic."
Shawcross believes he could lift the trophy on 14 May.
"I think we've got a chance," he said. "We'll go into it with confidence and hopefully put on another good performance."
Stoke's Premier League game at Manchester City has been moved back to Tuesday, 17 May, as the two teams were scheduled to meet on the same day as the FA Cup final.
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport