Eleven days after the original tie, Birmingham City make the short journey up the road to Molineux to take on Wolves for the privilege of a trip to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United in the fourth round.

I’m quite frankly amazed that this one has been picked for live transmission on the box; the original tie at St Andrews was pretty dull and uninspiring and I can’t help but think that neither manager seems particularly bothered about winning the game. Is there a chance that this game will replicate the blood and thunder of the 3-2 win of five years ago when Colin Doyle saved Michael McIndoe’s injury penalty time or will Wolves repeat last year’s result when they beat Blues at home for the first time in nine years?

Wolves

Mick McCarthy has already confirmed that he is resting Steven Fletcher for this one, and that he is playing Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Kevin Doyle up front, which I think clearly shows his priorities as Doyle hasn’t scored since October and Ebanks-Blake couldn’t stay onside if his life depended on it at St Andrews. Roger Johnson definitely misses out with an ankle injury, and he joins David Edwards, Kevin Foley and Matt Jarvis in the treatment room.

Wolves have only played once since the previous tie, drawing against Spurs away and playing reasonably well. However, that match extended their winless run in all competitions to eight, of which five have been draws. The clean sheet against us was their first since September and only their fifth of the season.

Blues

Blues have a squad of nineteen travelling to Molineux, with Myhill and Carr definitely not playing; Doyle will start the game and Butland will be on the bench. Wade Elliott is also expected to start, and there will be at least one place on the bench open to either Enric Valles or youngster Eddy Gnahore who got given a squad number today.

Blues had two games between the FA Cup ties, winning them both – 2-1 against Ipswich and of course the 6-0 thrashing away to Millwall on Saturday. This has extended Blues’ unbeaten run in all competitions to six, with three wins in their last four league games.

Whilst many talk of the FA Cup being devalued, I disagree. I only have to think back to last year when Blues were in touching distance of going to Wembley for a second time and how excited I as at that prospect despite having already seen us win the Carling Cup. A cup run could be very valuable to Blues in terms of gate receipts and TV income; it could raise our profile and would definitely increase the feelgood factor around St Andrews. Furthermore, winning is a habit and if we’re in the habit of winning in the cup that will translate to our league form. Yes, we’ll have played close to sixty games as it is by the end of the season but with Chris Hughton in charge I feel confident he can manage the squad to cope with that.

For those of you who don’t have a ticket – the match is designated all-ticket and Blues fans are strongly advised not to travel without one – the match will be on ITV1 tomorrow, kick off at 8pm. Should the match not be decided within 90 minutes, it will go to extra time and penalties.

Tags: Boaz Myhill, Colin Doyle, Eddy Gnahore, Enric Valles, FA Cup, Stephen Carr, Wade Elliott, Wolverhampton Wanderers