Relief! On Tuesday night, Villa picked up their first win of the Tim Sherwood era with Christian Benteke’s ice-cool last minute penalty providing the three points. As Tuesday night wore on, it seemed like it would be a familiarly tale as Villa dominated the first half and should have been leading by more than 1 goal. Only for then West Brom to turn the screw and Berahino to equalize midway through the second half, as Villa started to tire. But up stepped Ben Foster, who with the game seemingly heading towards a draw, decided to go for a ball that his defenders could have dealt with. Trying to make amends for his mistake, Foster scampered after the ball but in the end only succeeded in bringing Matthew Lowton down.
Now we move onto Saturday and we again face West Brom at Villa Park, but this time in the FA Cup Sixth Round. Tony Pulis’ only win away from the Hawthorns as West Brom manager came in the 4th round at Birmingham City. Pulis has history in this competition, having lead previous side Stoke to the 2011 FA Cup final, whilst West Brom’s last quarter final appearance came back in 2008. Team news for West Brom is that new club captain Darren Fletcher is cup tied having played for Manchester United in the 3rd round, forward Victor Anichebe is still out injured whilst January signing Callum McManaman is a doubt for the clash with a foot injury. After Foster’s horrific display on Tuesday night, it is rumoured that former Villa trainee Boaz Myhill might replace him in goal with Saido Berahino and Brown Ideye are expected to again be partnered up front for the Baggies.
West Brom’s FA Cup run so far:
Third Round: vs Gateshead (Home) 7-0
Fourth Round: Birmingham City (Away) 2-1
Fifth Round: West Ham (Home) 4-0
For Villa the FA Cup has been a source of much needed relief from our dreadful league form so far. The FA Cup provided the final 2 wins of Lambert’s tenure with victories over Blackpool and Bournemouth at home, and also provided Tim Sherwood with his first unofficial win of his Aston Villa reign as Villa scraped to a 2-1 win over fellow Premier League strugglers Leicester. In fact, since reaching the final FA cup final at the Old Wembley in 2000, it is only the second time we have reached the quarter finals (the other time being 2010), which is shocking for a club of our history and stature. Tim Sherwood is set to welcome back captain Ron Vlaar from injury if he passes a fitness test as Alan Hutton misses out due to a 2 game suspension after picking up a yellow card on Tuesday night for a rather wild challenge on Saido Berahino. It is expected that Given will once again deputise for Guzan in goal after his very good performance in the previous round against Leicester. In other injury news, the injured trio of Baker, Richardson and Cissokho are all expected to miss the game with long term injury absentees Senderos and Kozak not close to a return anytime soon. Benteke is expected to be retained up front following his penalty and assist on Tuesday night, with Agbonlahor also expected to play after a very good performance midweek, which he capped with a well taken goal.
Villa’s FA Cup run so far:
Third Round: Blackpool (Home) 1-0
Fourth Round: Bournemouth (Home) 2-1
Fifth Round: Leicester (Home) 2-1
With a 40,000+ attendance according to the ticket office, Villa Park is set to be rocking as Villa look to reach Wembley for the first time since 2010. With Sherwood’s confidence beginning to rub off on the players and fans alike, can he lead us to Wembley and who knows, maybe a FA Cup final?
