Martin O’Neill is desperate to prevent QPR boss Iain Dowie making Villa his latest cup scalp tonight.
Dowie presided over the biggest shock in last season’s Carling Cup when his Coventry side dumped Manchester United out of the competition at Old Trafford. They weren’t the only top-flight opposition to succumb to the Sky Blues after Blackburn were brushed aside 4-1 at Ewood Park later in the season in the FA Cup third round.
Now manager of a mega-rich Rangers club widely tipped for promotion, Dowie will be aiming to mastermind the downfall of another Premier League side at Villa Park this evening.
But, after seeing his Villa team make a shock exit from last season’s Carling Cup at the hands of former club Leicester, O’Neill knows only too well his side cannot afford to take their opponents lightly.
“Since the draw has been made we have not missed a game that they have been involved in and I would hope they would pay the same attention to ourselves,” said the Villa boss.
“It’s only about this time last year when Iain took a Coventry side to Old Trafford and won. I know Iain and I would be very concerned (about an upset).
“Last year we went out to Leicester City and that’s something we have to be really careful of. This will be a difficult game for us, no question about that.”
Just as there is a current air of optimism around Villa Park, so the same can be said at Loftus Road.
The Hoops’ ambitious new owners – who include Formula One heavyweights Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore – boast a combined wealth in excess of £23billion and have vowed to rapidly restore them to the top flight.
“Expectations are high at QPR as well,” added O’Neill. “The owners backing them have a substantial amount of money and their aim is to get promotion and to get it as quickly as possible.
“There is a really good feel about that club. I remember way back in my Forest days when they went very close to winning the Championship one year.
“They had lot of good players brought up on football like Stan Bowles and at least they have always tried to play to play the game
“After some lean times now suddenly they have got a bit of money, supporters have new hope in this day and age when football clubs need big backers.”
O’Neill must balance sending out a competitive side for what is a potential banana skin with giving some his stars a rest after many of them played in three away games last week.
James Milner (cup-tied) and Steve Sidwell (knee) miss out but Stiliyan Petrov should recover in time to come into contention.
However, it seems likely the Bulgarian will be among those rested along with the likes of Nigel Reo-Coker, Martin Laursen, Curtis Davies and John Carew for a game which sees fourth in the top flight face fourth in the second tier.
“We will definitely make a couple of changes to the side,” continued the Ulsterman. It’s game we wouldn’t want to treat lightly.”
One Comment
Resting players for this game is not a bad idea, it gives a chance for the fringe players to show their worth and with important league & euro fixtures coming up, we need to have our senior players fully fit.
I wouldn’t even mind too much if we get knocked out of the Carling cup, fighting on too many fronts is great if you have a squad full of top class talent, but the fact is that we don’t.
Look at what the Arsenal kids did last night, we do have some good young players coming through, but I think we have a long way to go before we get to that stage.