A strong work ethic comes naturally to Brede Hangeland. The towering Fulham defender recalls how national service duties with the navy back in his native Norway meant rising at 5.30am on the day of a Norwegian Cup Final and conducting a military exercise in a forest.

Hangeland, then with Viking, said: "We still won the game and it's a good memory."

Now the 27-year-old centre-half is hoping the work ethic that has helped transform Fulham's fortunes following their flirtation with relegation last season will offer another good memory by way of an FA Cup quarter-final victory over Manchester United at Craven Cottage tomorrow.

Hangeland, whose consistent excellence at the heart of Fulham's defence has attracted interest from Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, claims his side had shrugged off their 3-0 Premier League drubbing by United at Old Trafford just over two weeks ago.

"There is no hangover," he said. "We've already forgotten it."

On that occasion Fulham manager Roy Hodgson experimented with five across midfield in a vain attempt to repel the Red horde.

But while tomorrow he is likely to revert back to Fulham's usual 4-4-2 formation in order to exploit his side's strong form at Craven Cottage, that could leave Hangeland and his co-defenders exposed against the rampaging talents of Carlos Tevez, Ryan Giggs and possibly Ronaldo.

Hangeland insisted, however, that he is suffering no nightmares about the size of the task posed by a team chasing an historic Quintuple of trophies. "I'm never scared by footballers," he said.

Speaking in the wake of Wednesday's 1-0 defeat at the hands of a Hull City side which had been totally outplayed until stealing a 92nd-minute winner, he added: "I respect good players and there's about 20 of them at United so we'll have our work cut out. But that's football.

"You saw against Hull that the weaker team can win and maybe that can happen again tomorrow."

Hangeland is sincere in his belief that the strength and consistency of Fulham's defensive unit at home is sufficient to handle the best that United might throw at them.

Left-back Paul Konchesky, centre- halves Hangeland and Aaron Hughes, and right-back John Pantsil have appeared together in 23 of Fulham's 27 League games.

Hangeland said: "We have been lucky with injuries and it is inevitable that playing alongside each other so often helps create unity.

"We also do a lot of work on the training ground on our defensive shape. And it is our style that the midfield and even the attackers come back to help us. That is one thing defenders love to see, when the strikers chase back 60 yards. Not all strikers like to do that but I am very happy with the work rate of Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora. It all makes us hard to break down."

The statistics prove it. Fulham have lost just two of their 13 League fixtures at Craven Cottage this term and they have the joint third-best record of eight home wins.

The part played by Hangeland (right) in that success has been immense.

But then he has helped Fulham make giant strides ever since January last year when Hodgson paid FC Copenhagen £2.5million to be reunited with the player he previously worked with at Viking. Hughes, who has thrived in the company of Hangeland, paid Norway's international captain a great compliment by saying he was the best defender he had played alongside - and the Northern Ireland skipper has had Philippe Albert and Martin Laursen for team-mates at both Newcastle and Aston Villa.

He said: "Brede has everything you could want a central defender to have. He's 6ft 5in and his aerial capabilities are fantastic.

"But for such a big lad he's also comfortable with the ball at his feet, he can see a pass and play it. You can see why he's getting interest from other clubs."

Hangeland, who insists he is happy at Fulham and is set to sign a new, improved contract, added: "United must be the top team in the world at the moment and Saturday will be a stern test for us. But we're more confident at home and we play better at home.

"Of course we need to have a good day and maybe a bit of luck. But United can be beaten and I really believe we have a fair chance of doing that."

So does club captain Danny Murphy, who said: "At home we'll have a good go at them.

"Anyway, it's a different game because it's the Cup, we're at home and they've got Inter Milan and Liverpool in quick succession after playing us so I don't think it will be their first team.

"Sir Alex Ferguson showed us some respect at Old Trafford by playing more or less his full strength team. But I'd be surprised if he did it this time."

As Murphy conceded, however, even a weakened United line-up can be too strong for most opposition.

He added: "Ronaldo had a spell out earlier in the season but they're still sitting top of the League right now. Giggs can come in, Tevez can come in. It's all about strength in depth."

But Fulham have extra strength at the back and in Hangeland they may just have a match winner.