David James does not believe in fairytales and says if Portsmouth beat Chelsea at Wembley it would be down to nothing but hard work.
Pompey will be glad to see the back of a season which saw them endure one financial crisis after another, as promise of new investment never materialised, salaries were paid late and eventually the club slipped into administration which saw them docked nine points to all but seal their relegation from the Premier League.
The FA Cup, however, has provided much-needed solace, as against all the odds Avram Grant guided his team, often depleted by injury, through to a semi-final with Tottenham, where they beat former Pompey boss Harry Redknapp's side to secure one more day in the sun tomorrow.
Should Pompey pull off what would arguably be the biggest shock in the history of the famous old competition, James, who was part of the FA Cup-winning team two seasons ago, maintains it will be just rewards for a collective team effort.
"Playing Chelsea, who are in pretty good form at the moment, we are going to be definite underdogs," said the England goalkeeper.
"But we will do as we did at Spurs, preparing well to identify how we can nullify their strengths and take advantage of their weaknesses - Chelsea are not unbeaten and have not won every game 8-0. "It is just a case of making sure we do things right."
Hard work is the key to a Portsmouth success, according to James.
He added: "I do not believe in fairytales - I like reality.
"It is no good walking out there and thinking something divine will take over - we are going to have to work hard like we did against Tottenham when we got through by virtue of a solid team performance.
"Chelsea are a tremendous side, league champions, and in their five high-scoring games, they have probably put in more than we have scored all season.
"It sounds daunting, but at the same time, they are not unbeaten and there are flaws in their make-up."
Pompey beat Coventry, Sunderland, arch-rivals Southampton and Birmingham en route to their semi-final against Spurs. James, though, thought the FA Cup dream was dead at the Ricoh Arena before a bit of good fortune saw Pompey come through their third-round replay after extra-time.
"When we had travelled up to Coventry, after 89 minutes I thought the FA Cup run was over," recalled the Pompey goalkeeper, who missed the game through injury.
"It was bizarre how that late own goal got us into extra-time. I was in the players' lounge, about to walk out wondering whether it was going to be penalties or not, then we got the last-minute goal from Aaron Mokoena to win it."
James added: "The FA Cup performances, bar that one at Coventry, have been exceptional - at Southampton, against Birmingham and especially Tottenham, because they played well on the day, but we played better.
"That is probably the saddest thing, that it was not able to be rectified in the Premier League."
James turns 40 in August and the World-Cup bound goalkeeper is expected to be one of the players sold as the club look to get themselves out of administration ahead of the new Coca-Cola Championship campaign.
The veteran stopper has already waved the right to a new contract extension to try to help Pompey through their difficult times, and hinted he could yet stay on at Fratton Park.
"I have thought about it [the future], but I have not made any decisions because I need to sit down with the administrators and see what the plan is," James revealed.
"With the FA Cup coming up, there is nothing that is going to happen between now and then. That conversation will happen afterwards."
