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Chris Brunt tells Albion to forget FA Cup tie

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Chris Brunt today warned Albion to forget about the FA Cup when they head for Villa Park tonight aiming to deepen Villa's relegation woes.

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The Baggies' former skipper says Tony Pulis' men cannot be distracted by Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final against Villa when they take on their local rivals in Premier League action tonight.

Brunt said: "In the area there is buzz but for us it's all about the league game on Tuesday night first and I'm sure Villa would tell you the same thing.

"The results were kind for us on Saturday and with the three points we got we put a bit of distance between ourselves and the teams below us.

"We can go to Villa Park on the Tuesday night and concentrate on that and hope we can keep that unbeaten run going.

"We will focus on the Cup game afterwards but it's important we think about the league game first.

"Obviously Villa are having a bad time at the moment and they're not scoring many goals.

"I know they didn't score again on Saturday but that run has to come to an end at some stage and it's up to us to go there and make sure it's not against us.

"There is pride at stake in the local area but we've got a job to do and make sure we block that out during the games.

"The Cup game will be special when we get to it but the league games come first and it's important for us to get the league game out of the way before we turn our attentions to that.

"It will be a big week for the people of the Midlands."

Brunt hopes the Baggies can capitalise on the mounting pressure on Villa when the teams go head to head tonight with the Clarets and Blues having scored just 13 goals in 27 league games this season.

But the makeshift left-back is urging the Baggies to take nothing for granted.

He said: "They're not in a great place at the minute and they haven't score many goals but it's a local derby and form usually goes out of the window.

"We saw that last season when Villa hadn't score and we hadn't been scoring many and we ended up sharing seven goals!"