Pre-match: Oldham vs Notts

Grealish speaks to the press ahead of Oldham (Credit: Notts County Football Club)

After a strong 2-0 win against promotion hopefuls Swindon on Saturday, and relegation rivals Tranmere and Crewe failing to pick up points, Notts go into the last game of the season two points ahead of the drop, knowing that a single point away at Oldham will secure their survival, due to superior goal difference. Ahead of the Oldham game, Derry commented that:

It [Swindon] was an elation…this weekend is a huge game though. I don’t want to go with a defensive line-up…we need to play our football which has given us success.

Notts are currently fourth in the League One form table after a phenomenal spell, winning five games out of seven, and rescuing themselves from 10 points adrift at the bottom of the table. The Magpies, despite not needing any extra motivation ahead of their most important match of the season, will have taken note of what Oldham manager Lee Johnson mentioned ahead of the fixture however:

“I want our crowd to go for the jugular and help try to send a team down, without being too disrespectful.”

Notts will miss Hayden Mullins however, who was recalled to his parent club Birmingham earlier in the week, following a spate of injuries at the Midlands club who are also in a relegation battle of their own.County fans will take heart from the kind words said by the experienced Mullins about his young centre-half partner Haydn Hollis, who has become a regular in Derry’s team in recent weeks. It is expected that either Sheehan or Liddle will drop to centre half alongside Hollis, with Roberts or Vela filling their roles respectively, depending on the formation.

Derry hopes to bring Mullins back to Meadow Lane in the summer however:

It’s a blow, he was a leader for us, but somebody else will get an opportunity…I would love to bring Hayden back to the club in the summer though.

Looking back on the season, he acknowledged that the club had come a long way since he had arrived at the club, with togetherness of the squad being a prime reason for County’s resurgence. Looking ahead to next season, Derry wants to set out a plan that links the first team closer to the youth team, citing a potential set-up being that

‘I want 19 players who are ready to play for the first team, and the 5 or 6 who are training with the first team but are part of the u18s…I want to speed up the development squad, and then get some more young players into the Notts County team’

The young players involved with the side this season have been instrumental in the battle against relegation and have acquired a considerable amount of experience under pressure, taking them into next season. One in particular has been Jack Grealish, who earlier this week, was nominated for League One player of the month. Speaking to the press, ahead of his final game of the club before he goes back to Aston Villa, he praised his time at the club as being a great character builder:

Everything has changed since I joined County, it has helped my confidence…I have had Alan [Sheehan] behind me and reminding me of my defensive duties!

Commenting on the Oldham game, Grealish admitted: ‘I actually had a dream last night that we stayed up…I didn’t score though!’

League One table ahead of the final game of the season. Credit: (bbc.co.uk/sport)

FA Cup fourth round results

Photo credit [mirror.co.uk]

The FA Cup fourth round produced a plethora of surprises this year, including non-league Luton defeating Premier League side Norwich at Carrow Road, and League One’s Oldham knocking out Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool.

With Bradford City fast becoming the flag-bearer for Premier League upsets in the Capital One Cup, many other lower division sides took up the mantle this weekend with Liverpool, Tottenham, Norwich, Queen’s Park Rangers and Aston Villa all falling victim to lower-division opposition.

The ‘cupsets’ began on Friday night when Milwall completed a 2-1 win over Aston Villa, which whilst was an upset, wasn’t wholly surprising given Villa’s abysmal form, having not won since December 15th and leaking goals galore over the christmas period. In a world where Roberto Di Matteo was sacked despite winning the UEFA Champions League and Nigel Adkins also recently sacked after a rich run of form with Southampton, Paul Lambert must be losing a lot of sleep.

Saturday came with the promise of a series of potential FA Cup upsets, and did not disappoint. Everton laboured to a 2-1 win away at recently-relegated Bolton, and Arsenal were repeatedly pegged back by Brighton until a late Theo Walcott strike in the 85th minute to win 3-2 after a nervous encounter away from home. Middlesborough also endured a torrid time, emerging the victors from a close game against non-league Aldershot Town. The hosts were leading 1-0 up until the 89th minute when an equaliser from Aldershot’s Danny Hylton looked to be sending them into a well-deserved replay. Jutkiewicz however spoiled the non-league party and won the game for ‘Boro, much to the relief of the home fans. Macclesfield will also feel aggrieved after performing so well against Wigan Athletic but eventually losing out 1-0 at home to the Premier League side.

The real shock of the day though was not Reading scoring 4 goals, crushing Sheffield United 4-0 and actually looking remarkably potent in front of goal, but the demolishing of Harry Redknapp’s QPR at home to League One outfit MK Dons. The ‘Dons were 4-0 up away at QPR until the 80th minute until goals from J. Bothroyd and Fabio Da Silva sugar-coated a truly diabolical performance by Redknapp’s ‘Rangers and confirmed why they are prime relegation candidates, rooted bottom of the table.

Sunday bought further Premier League giant-killings as Oldham defeated an inept Liverpool 3-2 at home, Leeds United marked Gareth Bale out of the game and for their troubles took a 2-1 win into the next round against Villas-Boas’ Tottenham Hotspur. Finally, Chelsea escaped embarrassment with an 83rd minute finish from Fernando Torres to secure their place in the pot for the next round, with a laborious 2-2 draw at Brentford.

Elsewhere, Manchester United eased into the fifth round with a 4-1 win at home to Fulham, Derby County were hammered at home to Blackburn, Huddersfield almost completed a win over championship counter-parts Leicester City, with a late goal from the away side to draw level, 1-1. Hull were beaten at home by Championship strugglers Barnsley by a single goal, and Manchester City scored late on with a strike from Pablo Zabaleta in the 85 minute against Stoke City to win a closely-fought game 1-0.

The FA Cup fifth round fixtures are as follows:

Huddersfield Town or Leicester City v Wigan Athletic

MK Dons v Barnsley

Oldham Athletic v Everton

Luton Town v Millwall

Arsenal v Blackburn Rovers

Manchester City v Leeds United

Manchester United v Reading

Middlesbrough v Brentford or Chelsea

Bradford City Reach Capital One Cup final

Villa dejected as Bradford City progress to the final. Photo credit: [telegraph.co.uk]

League 2 outfit Bradford City have defied the analysts to reach the League Cup final, booking themselves a Wembley showdown with the winner between Swansea V Chelsea tomorrow evening.

Bradford went into the second-leg with a 3-1 lead, having defeated Aston Villa at home, with the stadium announcer cheekily telling the fans to “book their hotels for Wembley”, much to the disgust of Paul Lambert. Despite the lead, it was not to be an easy night for Phil Parkinson’s men, with Villa’s Christian Benteke proving to be a menace amongst the Bradford back four, creating some potential opportunities and eventually capitalising on one in the 24th minute, after flicking a cross past Matt Duke.

Bradford went into the break under pressure from Villa, with the home side deservedly leading. Ten minutes into the second half however, Bradford extended their aggregate lead to 4-2, taking advantage of Villa’s inexperience from set-pieces, with Hanson winning the ball in the air at a corner, powering the header past Shay Given in the Villa goal.

The League 2 giant-killers spurned further opportunities to not only kill, but bury the tie, with substitute Thompson hitting the bar late on, and Weimann scored a second for Villa late on in the 89th minute, but it was all too late by then, with Bradford seeing out the remaining minutes. The final score Bradford City 4-3 (AGG) Aston Villa.

The permutations of this win are potentially huge for the League 2 minnows; not only are they playing for the Capital One Cup trophy on the 24th of February, but a win in the final will also propel them into the Europa League. Needless to say, if most of Bradford’s debt was wiped out following the Arsenal win, a place in the Europa League will more than secure their financial future.