Doncaster Rovers 0 Aston Villa 0: Post analysis
Jan 26 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Post
It is a measure of Martin O’Neill’s respect for the FA Cup that Aston Villa are viewing the prospect of a replay as a minor inconvenience rather than a major stumbling block.
Villa could do without an extra fixture, especially with Nigel Reo-Coker now joining Martin Laursen, John Carew and Wilfred Bouma on the injury list and the risk of suspensions mounting.
However, O’Neill again demonstrated the high regard in which he holds football’s famous old competition by naming his strongest possible team for the stalemate at Doncaster Rovers.
Therefore the fact that Villa remained in the hat for yesterday’s fifth round draw was more important to the manager than the frustration of a re-match at Villa Park a week on Wednesday.
While many top flight teams have scrubbed the sheen off the FA Cup by fielding weakened line-ups, full strength Villa again signalled their intentions to makes serious progress this year, even though they are challenging on two other fronts.
Besides casualties Laursen, Carew and Bouma, the suspended pair of Ashley and Luke Young and ineligible new signing Emile Heskey, this was the very best of the claret and blue bunch.
It will be a slight source of irritation then that Villa were unable to see off cup bogey team Doncaster at the first time of asking during a captivating tie at the Yorkshire club’s Keepmoat Stadium.
With Villa crawling and Doncaster bursting out of the blocks the home fans were sensing a repeat of their 3-0 League Cup defeat of their illustrious visitors at their old Belle Vue ground in 2005.
Credit to O’Neill’s men, though, they emerged from their slumber to pile the pressure on Sean O’Driscoll’s Championship strugglers after the interval, doing everything but score.
