Both Mick McCarthy and Brum boss Steve Bruce have welcomed the FA Cup 5th round draw which puts them head-to-head at the Stadium of Light on Valentines’ weekend.
Sunderland enjoyed a relatively convincing win over Ipswich in the 4th round of the cup at the weekend with cracking goals from Julio Arca and Tommy Smith, McCarthy was upbeat about today’s draw saying “It’s a good one for us – a home tie against a Premiership side.
“I don’t think Birmingham will be that thrilled with the draw. We’ll give them the utmost respect, they’re a good Premiership side, but people may just think there’s a chance of us winning, because we’re at home.
“Perhaps had it been Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United, people would have been more excited, but it’s an exciting tie for the fans and one they might respond to. I fancy us at home but I would have said that had it been Manchester United or Arsenal, because you don’t know what teams are going to turn up.”
Blues’ boss Bruce also declared himself pleased, although he admitted he’d have preferred to be drawn at home.
“We’re pleased to be drawn against Sunderland – although we’re a touch disappointed we’re not at home.
“Sunderland have been doing very well under Mick McCarthy and we’re expecting a tough game because I’m sure they’ll give it a right good go.
“But at the same time we’re very pleased we’ve managed to avoid Chelsea, Man Utd and Arsenal.”
Birmingham went out of last season’s FA Cup in the third round, losing 3-1 away to Fulham but beat Wimbledon 1-0 in last weekend’s 4th round. Sunderland got as far as the 5th round last season, losing 1-0 at home to Watford – ironically their goalscorer was Tommy Smith, who scored the opener in our 2-1, 4th round defeat of Ipswich Town last weekend.
The match against Birmingham will be played on the weekend of Saturday 14th-Sunday 15th February, with our scheduled home game against Gillingham being postponed as a result (details of the rearranged date, and ticketing details for the Birmingham match still TBC).
The full FA Cup 5th round draw is as follows:
Man Utd v Man City/Tottenham
Tranmere v Swansea
Telford/Millwall v Burnley
Sunderland v Birmingham
Sheff Utd v Coventry/Colchester
Arsenal v Chelsea
Liverpool v Portsmouth
Everton/Fulham v West Ham
Sunderland form:
D L D W D L D D D L W W W W L
Birmingham form:
L D D W L D L L L W W L L W D
