FA Cup Quarter Final : Villa v WBA Saturday 7th March 5:30pm kick off.

I've forgotten who used to say it but "we go again".

Can Saturday produce the excitement, agony and emotion of last night's match? Will Villa be bouncing or will the Baggies be boing boinging?

Half of me would love to get to Wembley, but the other half is worried stiff about the side effects of investing so much effort and emotion on two fronts. What do you think guys, win, lose or draw on Saturday?

I'm going for a narrow win .... I definitely don't want a draw and a replay.

I'd dearly love to see us at Wembley. Moreso for the kids as they've not seen it happen.

I expect them to replace that shitty excuse for a goalkeeper so get a few shots in on him early and rock his boat. :)

Do we know what players are available for this match?

I think we showed last night that we have the quality in the team to outplay the boggies, so I'm confident we can win and really get momentum and good feelings flowing. I expect us to have to deal with them being a bit more on the front foot at first as a reaction to losing so I think we'll come into it later in the 1st half and win 3-1

Defence is going to be the big issue for us on Saturday especially if it does turn out Clark is suspended. That would also mean Clark and Hutton out for the next league game too which would be huge.

Hopefully Vlaar has learnt his lesson and will put in the fight the rest of the team did on Tuesday; if he isn't prepared to do that then play Baker.

Looking forward to the game and even if we change around to "rest" players having Gil, Sinclair, Bacuna and Weimann coming in doesn't really weaken the team anyway!

Clark has 10 yellow cards but 1 came in the cup against Blackpool (I think) so does this count???

I reckon we will win this game 1-0.

Cards shown in FA Cup, League Cup and Premier League all count towards the players domestic total, so yes, only cards in European games are separate

According to Physio Room though Vlaar, Cissokho and Richardson are expected back from injury Saturday so it looks like we are hoping on them passing some late fitness tests

I've been consistently wrong with my predictions so have gone for a loss in the hope my 100% record is maintained.

I wonder if when Cissokho and Richardson are fit and there's no need for him at RB Lowton will still get the LB position? He's played, what, two matches, looked good yesterday and created the pivotal moment in winning that match.

I'm going to make sure I'm in a safe environment for Saturday's game, on Tuesday I was on the M23 when Gabby scored and might have changed lane by accident.

Well the thing is that Hutton is out so Lowton can go over there, hopefully we have at least one fit left back!

I'm not nervous at all about Saturday's match and the following week I will be soaking up the sun in the Canaries during the Sunderland game. That's two stress free weeks for me!

Petrov walking out on the touchline with Sherwood will hopefully lift the roof off and really get the players going

Villa_Dan wrote:Petrov walking out on the touchline with Sherwood will hopefully lift the roof off and really get the players going

Brilliant news, but we'll soon need to enlarge the dug out!

Has Petrov agreed to work with the club now then?

Synopsis wrote:Has Petrov agreed to work with the club now then?

He's back coaching with the first team.

now thats cheered me up, was sitting here almost suicidal at work am that bored

Would you move Lowton to accommodate the return of one of the left backs or keep him where he is and play Bacuna at right back? I'm asking the question because I genuinely don't know what's best!

mefromhere wrote:Would you move Lowton to accommodate the return of one of the left backs or keep him where he is and play Bacuna at right back?  I'm asking the question because I genuinely don't know what's best!

I'd shift him to right back purely because of his ability to hit a pin point cross. It could open WBA right up.

I think Cissokho is back so I'd go with Lowton at right back with Clark and Vlaar in the middle. Delph, Sanchez and Westwood in front of them with Gil or Grealish behind Benteke and Gabby. Given in goal.

I think Senderos might be back pretty soon too.

Richardson, Cissokho and Vlaar all doubtful according to TS. makeshift back 4 it is then! I wonder if he'll consider bringing in Kinsella or not

mefromhere wrote:Would you move Lowton to accommodate the return of one of the left backs or keep him where he is and play Bacuna at right back?  I'm asking the question because I genuinely don't know what's best!

I've been wondering that too. I think Richardson was kept at LB for two matches when Cissokho was fit and available because he's better going forward. I'd put Cissokho ahead of Richardson but having seen some of Lowton at LB I wonder if he's not a better option there full stop. For this cup match though, we need him at RB and if he's fit, Cissokho at LB. The way it's going with our CBs I'd rather see Clark and Okore play there and keep Vlaar on the bench (from what I've read elsewhere Clark isn't banned - yet). It's a tricky one though, we need everyone fit and ready to play to the end of the season but Vlaar is too injury prone and we really can't afford to lose Clark for two matches. Clark just has to make sure he doesn't get booked.

mefromhere wrote:Richardson, Cissokho and Vlaar all doubtful according to TS. makeshift back 4 it is then! I wonder if he'll consider bringing in Kinsella or not

Ok, I didn't read this before my last post.

You'd hope that Sherwood has had some replacement defenders from the reserves training with the first team but we might still be better off with Lowton at LB and Bacuna at RB. Both are very good going forward and both can defend so we have to hope we can score more than they can. Who knows, maybe he'll try Sanchez at LB...

We should play Cissokho only for the fact that i am still waiting for him to put a decent cross in, it must be soon surely ?

VillaBill wrote:We should play Cissokho only for the fact that i am still waiting for him to put a decent cross in, it must be soon surely ?

Maybe Sherwood isn't playing him until he puts in a good cross in training and he hasn't done so yet!

Talking of crossing, I wonder how Lowton is at taking corners?

To fire up the Claret and Blue blood in your veins. Brilliant Ode to Villa, take a watch...

http://t.co/qTfGkzcn7U