Aston Villa Vs Blackburn

[sambo]

Well theres 1004 as Im going with my brother and Dad for the more expensive tickets.

[Presty On Tour]

with nelsen out, tugay doubtful and mokoena away with south africa i would imagine we would line up like this:

friedel

ooijer samba zurab warnock

bentley reid dunn gamst

santa cruz mCcarthy

subs: brown, emerton, treacy, derbyshire, roberts.

young will have the pace on ooijer no problem but the dutch man has the experience to keep him in his back pocket imo and i feel he will play along with zurab in defence as they are better in the air than emerton as we try to neutralize their set pieces.

the rest of the side pretty much picks it's self at the moment though i would fancy playing emerton in central midfield as i've thought he has done well there lately and has a lot of energy to get amongst it.

derbyshire will probably find himself on the bench again even with his goal last week.

i'm feeling good about this one this morning, we are 5 unbeaten and have picked up more points on the road than at ewood park. We are playing poorly lately and our recent record at villa park isn't to impressive but something has to give.

c'mon morten! today your going to shine and bag one ain't ya!

[Hi Mack]

i thought the game vs coventry was a nightmare!according to the sun it was

an we won so we play villa today in the fa cup!

Olof Mellberg could play his final game for Aston Villa in the FA Cup against Blackburn before moving to Juventus. (The Sun)

[modes98]

friedel

ooijer samba zurab warnock

bentley reid dunn gamst

santa cruz mCcarthy

subs: brown, emerton, treacy, derbyshire, roberts.

I know your reasoning but i would put emerton at right back otherwise i can see another Petrov situation occurring.

With villa it only takes 1 free kick in the right place and they score. Defensive pace will be the key along with marking players at set pieces, which we didn't do at ewood

[roverich]

Villa are sure-fire favourites for this game IMO, we often struggle against them. If we are to have a chance I think it comes down to how our wingers play and that doesn't inspire much confidence because Gamst has been lacking form for some time now. Bentley and Santa can do the business if they get support from a couple more players. No doubt Benni can do some damage - and his workrate has been excellent recently - but he needs to get that natural instinct and sharpness back that we saw in his first season.

I agree that the pace of Emerton is perhaps more important than the positional awareness of Ooijer today. I also want to see Tugay play, he hasn't had much chance recently and he's ten times the player Dunn is. Reid still seems to be trying to get some of his awareness and technique back, I can't see any other options so I just hope he has a good game.

A massive turnaround is needed from our eprformance against 'Boro and I for one expect Villa to perform in what is a crunch match for them as much as for us. High pressure and much to lose for both teams. I think Villa will deal with it better. Sorry, no point commenting if I'm not going to be honest though (please don't shoot me for suggesting Rovers may not win).

[Ozz]

I also want to see Tugay play, he hasn't had much chance recently and he's ten times the player Dunn is. Reid still seems to be trying to get some of his awareness and technique back, I can't see any other options so I just hope he has a good game.

I think Tugays a doubt with injury according to the official site news. His slippers are too tight and they have given him a groin strain.

[roverich]

Oh sorry, I missed that nugget of info.

Forgot to say before, I think Zurab should start instead of Nelsen. Granted I haven't seen aa lot of Zurab recently, noone has, but I think he is one of our most underrated players. I thought he had an excellent game against Chelsea and was key to the way we limited their attacking options. I know we still lost the game but it was by far our best performance for weeks and it was down to our defensive stability, something we seem to be lacking now.

[Lathund]

Oh sorry, I missed that nugget of info.

Forgot to say before, I think Zurab should start instead of Nelsen. Granted I haven't seen aa lot of Zurab recently, noone has, but I think he is one of our most underrated players. I thought he had an excellent game against Chelsea and was key to the way we limited their attacking options. I know we still lost the game but it was by far our best performance for weeks and it was down to our defensive stability, something we seem to be lacking now.

Another nugget of info you missed there Nelsen won't play, he's been ordered a few weeks rest for a hamstring problem.

I'd want Zurab to replace him too, with Ooijer at RB. I prefer the extra defensive stablity he offers over Emerton's attacking prowess.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Emerton or Ooijer at right back ? It's a hard one to call, Emerton is definitely faster but useless in the air, Ooijer is good in the air and a decent defensive player but slow. Given the fact that Villa score bags of goals via set plays I've got to go for Ooijer but with the proviso that our dozy midfield give him some support and cover, not like the way they left Zurab out to dry against City.

[den]

Team:

Friedel Emo,Samba,Ooijer, Warnock, Bents, Dunn, Reid, Ped, Santa, Derbs.

[philipl]

Sends out a message to the forwards: your job is to score goals!

[joey_big_nose]

We could be playing 451?

[frosty]

Pleased with the defence.

[1864roverite]

Live on BBC WM radio online

[T4E]

Has any good come of the Dunn/Reid partnership yet?

[Exiled_Rover]

Has any good come of the Dunn/Reid partnership yet?

Sadly it's the best one we can put out.

[Al]

Not happy with Derbyshire starting. He's much more effective coming on as an impact player in the second half and I would have thought that Roberts had done enough to warrant another start today.

Having said that Derbs will probably score a hat trick now.

[Flopsy]

Has any good come of the Dunn/Reid partnership yet?

11 points? in 5 games?

[Dunnfc]

HAVANT 1-0

[sussexrover]

Rafa out

[Exiled_Rover]

We could be playing 451?

Definately playing 4-5-1, Derbyshire is dropping back into right midfield when we don't have the ball.

[Alex Rover]

Derbs has missed a pen

[AggyBlue]

Derbs just missed a pen

[krislu]

Cruz wasn't it?

[Alan75]

Derbyshire injured - winded