TIM Ream loves the FA Cup – despite an eye-opening introduction to the competition.

Despite being thrown into the partisan surroundings of The Den for a third round tie at Millwall three years ago – his first taste of English football – the American’s passion for the cup remains undiminished.

Wanderers begin another assault on Wembley Way against local rivals Wigan Athletic tomorrow, and the St Louis native sees no reason why the club cannot make it a priority.

“It is one of the biggest cups in the world so to have the opportunity to play in it again is something you relish as a player,” he told The Bolton News. “You get yourself up for it.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget my first game in the cup. It was at Millwall and last week my 100th game for Bolton was at Millwall, which was weird.

“Both games were shut outs so I definitely want to go back there.”

Japanese loanee Ryo Miyaichi stole the headlines that day at The Den with Wanderers’ first goal on the day, although David Ngog made the game safe early in the second half.

Ream recalls a far less comfortable afternoon.

“It was rough and tumble,” he grinned. “They had Darius Henderson up top. I had heard stories about Millwall and experiencing Millwall.

“At the time it was an intimidating place to play but we went down and came out 2-0 winners.”

Wigan arrive at the Macron two months after a 3-1 defeat to Wanderers in the league which signalled the end of Uwe Rosler’s reign.

The Whites moved out of the relegation zone with that victory, which came courtesy of goals from Max Clayton, Chung-Yong Lee and Craig Davies.

Things have not run smoothly for the Latics ever since, with just one win and a draw earned in the intervening seven games.

Malky Mackay – who was interviewed for the post at Bolton before Lennon’s appointment – has struggled to find any consistency and the club remain three points from safety in the Championship bottom three.

Those struggles in the league, Ream notes, make Wigan a difficult opponent to assess going into their third round clash.

Whether Mackay will choose to rotate his squad and save key players for the league, or try and build confidence by risking his full-strength team is a matter of debate.

“You can see them giving some younger guys or guys who haven't played a lot a chance,” the defender reasoned. “But at the back of your mind you are thinking they are going to give it a go because they need a spark.

“It will be interesting to see what type of team they put out. Personally, I think they will go with an experienced squad and try to give them that spark to kick on in the league.”

Ream has now made more than 100 appearances in a Whites shirt since swapping the surroundings of New York for Horwich but is yet to register his first goal.

He has been getting closer – the left-back role giving him more licence to venture forward than it did under Dougie Freedman’s system – but the laid-back defender insists he is not concerned.

“Being a defender I will stick to my duties at the back,” he said. “If I can sneak one in-hopefully this season-that would be nice.

“You can come as close as you want but if the keeper is going to pull off a magnificent save, he is going to do it.

“I am not really worried about it. If it comes, it comes. If it doesn't so be it.”

Tomorrow’s game is also the first Neil Lennon’s side will face without Chung-Yong Lee, who travelled to the Asia Cup on Monday to link up with the South Korea squad.

The play-maker could miss the whole of January, depending on how well his team does in the competition, but Ream feels there are creative options within the squad who can fill the void.

“Unfortunately, he has his national team duties and it will be a big loss for us,” he said. “I think Eidur can play that role underneath the strikers and definitely be the creative spark for us.

“Young Zach Clough has been involved and you may see him a little bit throughout the next month or so. And hopefully other guys can step up and replace Chungy for the time being.”