Villa Await Cup Fate

Last updated : 13 January 2009 By Tom Vickers
Villa are set to find out their F.A. Cup fourth round opponents as Cheltenham take on Doncaster at Whaddon Road on Tuesday night.

The Claret and Blue face a potential banana skin tie away to the winners of the game, for whom the incentive of meeting a top four Premier League side may serve to improve performance.

The original fixture had to be postponed after the Whaddon Road pitch was deemed as unplayable.

Villa fans may be hoping for a Cheltenham victory as the Robins currently sit in a lowly 22nd place in League One.

Managed by 'Mad Dog' Martin Allen, the strugglers have the worst goal difference in the division and have only won five games this season. Notably, four of those came at home.

Their stadium holds just under 7,500, meaning ticket availability for Villa fans would be low.
Doncaster are also struggling in their respective league, the Championship, and currently lie in 23rd place.

However, they do have a good recent history against Villa, having knocked the Premier League side out of the League Cup with an emphatic victory as Belle Vue in 2005.

Interestingly, in five F.A. Cup meetings between the two sides, Villa have never triumphed, but admittedly the meetings were all during the 1954/55 campaign.

Doncaster's recently built Keepmoat stadium, which holds over 15,000 would undoubtedly be more accommodating to Villa fans than Cheltenham's tight Whaddon Road ground.

However, supporters will be hoping to face the side which provides the weakest opposition not the best facilities and therefore Cheltenham will probably be backed by the Villans in the third round clash.