Being the manager to take Rovers to the new Wembley for the first time would be a proud moment for Jon Dahl Tomasson – but so too is seeing the togetherness created at the club over the course of the season.

The head coach can sense the excitement around the fanbase, but also all aspects of the club, as he looks for Rovers to write a new chapter in their proud history.

They head to Sheffield United tomorrow lunchtime for a first FA Cup quarter final in eight years, with the prospect of a trip to the national stadium if they can get past the Blades.

The tie has captured the imagination of the fans, with almost 6,000 heading to south Yorkshire, but so too has their recent form which will see them emerge from the international break inside the top six with nine games remaining.

“We want to develop a clear identity of how we want to play football, but when you have success the most important thing as a leader is to see everyone going in the right direction,” Tomasson explained.

“I’m always excited when I see players, staff members, people in the building, fans, coming together.

“As a leader you want to see things going in the same direction.

“That makes me excited and proud which is positive.”

While Tomasson enjoyed huge success as a player, and also won silverware as a manager, it’s a different feeling altogether for his squad, with this for many of them the biggest game of their careers to date.

Tomasson says there is a balance to be had on channelling the emotions of the game, but wants his players to be brave on the big stage as they were at Leicester City in the last round.

“In the beginning it was about building a spirit together, I think that spirit and togetherness is excellent within the squad,” the head coach added.

“When you build that then you always get a group who want to do things together.

“When you’re playing knockout games you need players who want to do it together because it’s about winning that game and in the meantime we’re developing a playing style to be a more modern way of playing football.”

So what about the prospect of becoming the first man to lead Rovers out at the new Wembley?

“It would be a great achievement. We’re playing for the fans, the fans are the heart of football and we should never forget that,” he added.

“They pay a hell of a lot of money for a ticket, so we should try and give them something back.

“I think the lads have done that, we’re enjoying a good campaign, in the league and the different cups.

“This is a chance to write a new chapter and each player should think about that.

“It’s something we need to chase.

“There will only be one club winning the FA Cup in the end, we’re not there, but we’re allowed to dream about Wembley for sure.

“Just saying that word says enough about the passion for this great competition.”

Tomasson’s love for the FA Cup is infectious, stemming from his days watching the competition back in his native Denmark when growing up.

He has huge admiration for the traditions of the English game, a key reason why he turned down jobs in the top-flights of other European countries to test himself in the Championship.

He had experience as a player, albeit a fleeting one with Newcastle in 1997/98, which included him missing out on a place in the squad for an FA Cup final.

On the competition he brands the greatest in the world, Tomasson explained: “When I was a young boy growing up in Denmark, I grew up with English football, I watched the FA Cup.

“Those moments when smaller clubs can beat the big ones, football is an extremely important part for the social way of living in each city.

“There are always people who are big supporters of each team, and the FA Cup is an historic team.

“I was in one final with Newcastle, although not playing, but those memories of the passion and the tradition is very special, and you only have that in England.

“It’s one of the reasons when I decided to work in England, I could have worked at different European clubs and worked to become champions, but I chose to work in the second highest league in England because of the passion, and general playing style, is great.”

Given Rovers’ form has been so strong at Ewood Park this season it was no surprise to hear that Tomasson would have preferred a home draw in the FA Cup quarter finals.

Yet with a backing of almost 6,000 fans at Bramall Lane on Sunday, he knows his side won’t be short of support.

It will be a new challenge for most of the Rovers players who take to the pitch on Sunday, but one he hopes they meet head on and play with the bravery they did at Leicester last month.

“It’s a new experience for some of the players to be this far," he said.

“For Rovers it’s been a while since we’ve been able to bring 6,000 to an away game, and to be playing for Wembley, it sounds great.

“You want to feel that tension to perform, but on the other hand it’s just a football game where we need to do the concrete right things that we’ve been working on the whole season.

“We’ll try and follow the plan knowing that the team we’re playing against is a great opponent.

“We’re extremely ambitious, we’ll go on the pitch to win, we go on the pitch to win every game.”