JORDAN HUGILL can vividly remember the last time Middlesbrough played in the semi-final of a major domestic cup competition. Unlike tomorrow night however, when he will attempt to help fire Boro into the last four of the Carabao Cup, he was not involved on the pitch.

April 2006 saw Boro travel to Villa Park to take on West Ham United in an FA Cup semi-final. Four days later, they would beat Steaua Bucharest at the Riverside in a game that has become etched in Teesside folklore, but their Sunday-afternoon outing in the Midlands did not prove so memorable.

A tight, nervy encounter was settled when Marlon Harewood scored the only goal of the game with 13 minutes left. West Ham went on to Millennium Stadium, where they would lose to Liverpool on penalties, leaving Boro to lick their wounds before starring against Steaua.

Hugill was 13 at the time, living at his home in Hemlington and attending Nunthorpe School. On the Sunday of the semi-final, he travelled with his father to Villa Park, sitting amongst the throng of Boro fans on the Holte End. The journey down to Birmingham was full of hope and expectation. The trip back to Teesside was rather less fun.

“I’m too young to remember the semi-finals in the 90s, but I obviously remember the UEFA Cup semi-final with (Massimo) Maccarone’s goal, and the FA Cup semi-final against West Ham too,” said Hugill.

“I was actually at Villa Park, in the Holte End. I was in there when Marlon Harewood scored the winner. I remember being devastated at the time, but the funny thing is I’m mates with Marlon Harewood now. I didn’t want to forgive him that day though.

“I was at that game, and remember being gutted we’d missed out on the final. That’s why the incentive is so massive for us here. To go into a two-legged semi-final against a Premier League team, with a fighter’s chance of anything, would be massive. If you can get there, you never know what might happen.”

Boro host League One Burton Albion tomorrow with mixed experiences of taking on lower-league sides in the latter stages of cup competitions.

Few Boro fans will forget the epic 1997 FA Cup semi-final with Chesterfield, when Boro booked a place at Wembley with a 3-0 replay win after a thrilling 3-3 draw first time around, but even fewer will want to remember 2008’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Cardiff City, when Gareth Southgate’s side folded tamely at the Riverside just as the draw was opening up for them.

Burton have struggled since their relegation from the Championship last season, but in a one-off game, Hugill is adamant it would be wrong to take anything for granted.

“We’ll think we’ve got a fighting chance of going all the way, but you’ve got to take things one step at a time and we can’t look beyond Burton because they could make things very difficult for us,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough game. They’re not going to come and roll over for us.

“They’ll be going into it thinking they’ve got a chance of getting into the semi-final as much as we have. Let’s be honest, we’re probably the team they were wanting to draw.

“When you play a lower-league team, you always find that they really want it as well. They’ve got nothing to lose, so it’s going to be a tough game. It’s one that we shouldn’t play down, or get ahead of ourselves with, because it’s going to be tough.”

Nevertheless, the lure of a potential semi-final spot makes obvious appeal, particularly with so many big sides still in the competition. Manchester City take on Leicester City tomorrow, with Wednesday’s games pitting Arsenal against Tottenham in a North London derby and seeing Chelsea host Bournemouth.

“This is a massive night for us,” said Hugill. “You’d snap someone’s hand off to get to the semi-final of any cup. Regardless of who you’re playing, you want to be in the semi-final to make sure you’ve got a chance of winning silverware.

“It doesn’t matter who else is in the competition, if you get through to the semi-final, then you’ve got a chance of ending up as the winners. That’s all you can ask for.”