Milner, probably Villa's player of the season
Martin O’Neill’s crazy statistic as Aston Villa boss, that he has never won a game in March, comes under real scrutiny on Sunday in a tricky tie at the Madejski as Reading play in their first FA Cup quarter-final since 1927.
Following their gallant defeat to Manchester United in the Carling Cup final last Sunday, a number of Aston Villa players have come out and said the best way to bounce back will be to reach Wembley again in the FA Cup. Reading will be no pushovers having already seen off Premier League opposition in the form of Liverpool and Burnley in the oldest cup competition in the world this season.
The Royals cup success has translated into the league where in 2010 they have pushed themselves away from the drop zone. A 5-0 home win over Sheffield Wednesday last week was proof that their tails are up and both Jimmy Kebe and Gregorz Rasiak should be full of confidence having both claimed braces.
In goal Adam Federici has been one of the stars of their FA Cup run that also saw them beat Championship high flyers West Brom in a replay. Gylfi Sigurdsson has come to the fore, showing maturity beyond his years by scoring an injury-time penalty at Anfield and the Icelandic midfielder also scored the winner against Burnley and propelled Reading into the quarter finals with a great strike against West Brom in the last round.
Welsh striker Simon Church will also be looking to impress and Aston Villa will be wary of Championship opposition having struggled past Crystal Palace in the last round.
Villa will likely field a similar team to the one that lost at Wembley last week and as ever the main threat will come from England hopefuls James Milner , Stewart Downing , Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young .
In their FA Cup run so far Nathan Delfouneso has featured and scored two goals and he may well get another chance on Sunday after scoring for the England Under-21s in midweek.
Martin O’Neill will also have his regular strike dilemma between John Carew and Emile Heskey. The Norwegian is reportedly considering his future after starting on the bench in the Carling Cup final.
Reading do seem well up for it and chairman Sir John Madejski has attempted to rally the troops: "It's an enormous, enormous game for us. There's a wonderful romance about the FA Cup, there's no doubt about that and it should be a tremendous day... It's the quarter finals of the FA Cup, win this on Sunday and we're off to the new Wembley for the first time."
Aston Villa meanwhile will still be smarting from their defeat to Manchester United and if Reading can get amongst them early doors this could be a real cup classic.
