Aston Villa v Ipswich Town Pre-Match Thread

[Lizz]

I've given up on guess the crowd, but anyone have any idea how many tickets have been sold?

[Shrek]

I bought my ticket today, he said Bradford 2nd leg will almost certainly sold out and I said I'd like at least 20k tomorrow and he said its looking very likely.

[Matt Collins]

The 25-year-old forward scored 18 goals in 25 games during a loan spell at Coventry this season and is the top scorer in League One with 16

Neither player has made an FA Cup appearance this season but Town are waiting to find out if they registered the pair in time for Saturday's third round tie at Aston Villa.

If he plays I think he'll score. I can see us losing this one tbh, though we should have enough against a weakened side surely?

[Clampy]

It's hard to predict what side he'll put out for this one. It'll be tough because they've improved over the last few weeks and they'll bring a few fans. Would'nt surprise me if it went to a replay.

[robbo1874]

Only time I've seen Ipswich at villa park was the season we won the league. My old man took me in the old witton lane. I think after a few games of always seeing us win that was the first time I saw us lose at home.

I think we'll win this one but there'll be a few dramas along the way

[danlanza]

I bought my ticket today, he said Bradford 2nd leg will almost certainly sold out and I said I'd like at least 20k tomorrow and he said its looking very likely.

That is still a half full stadium. Surely we should be pushing 30,000 for this game ?

[eastie]

I bought my ticket today, he said Bradford 2nd leg will almost certainly sold out and I said I'd like at least 20k tomorrow and he said its looking very likely.

That is still a half full stadium. Surely we should be pushing 30,000 for this game ?

To many people the fa cup is not what it once was ,whereas most of us remember it as the big glamour occasion in recent years crowds have dropped and players been rested and some see it as trivial- quite sad really.

[Clampy]

I bought my ticket today, he said Bradford 2nd leg will almost certainly sold out and I said I'd like at least 20k tomorrow and he said its looking very likely.

That is still a half full stadium. Surely we should be pushing 30,000 for this game ?

Maybe the club should have made it a tenner across the board for this one.

[PeterWithesShin]

Paul Lambert admits he will handle Christian Benteke with care to avoid putting too much pressure on the Belgian striker.

Benteke has been thrust into the spotlight after making a terrific impact since arriving from Genk.

The 22-year-old has featured in every game since joining the club in September and has been Villa's main attacking threat with nine goals in all competitions.

If he features in this afternoon's FA Cup third round tie against Ipswich, it will be his 22nd consecutive appearance.

Injuries to Darren Bent and Gabby Agbonlahor in recent weeks have meant Benteke and Andreas Weimann have had to shoulder the goalscoring burden.

Lambert admits he would like to rest his summer signing at some stage to ease the pressure on him.

"I'd like to rest him I think because he's played a lot of games," said the Villa boss.

"He's played a lot of games for Belgium and his season with Genk had started before ourselves.

"I'd like to rest him at some point. With Gabby and even Darren out injured it has not been great.

"Charles has also been out. So there's a lot of injuries on that front."

Lambert has always been mindful of the expectation levels that have been placed on his young forward.

He says Benteke has dealt with the pressure well since moving to Villa.

"I've said before there should not be an expectancy level on him," he added.

"He's only 22. The way he's been performing it's unfair to put every bit of expectancy on him."

[Risso]

We simply can't afford to rest him at the moment.

[eastie]

We simply can't afford to rest him at the moment.

I'd be amazed if benteke plays today.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I see no earthly reason why Bowery can't play.
Lambert signed him so he must have faith in him.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

It's Lawro time!

Aston Villa picked up a point against Swansea on New Year's Day but all that result really did was paper over the cracks.

In all honesty, if the Welsh side had taken their early chances, then Villa could have been looking at a repeat of their 8-0 defeat by Chelsea at the start of what was a shocking festive period for them.

After three heavy losses in a row, it was great for Villa boss Paul Lambert that his players came back to get a draw at the Liberty Stadium.

The one positive thing about having such a young side is that you can knock them down but they keep getting up. However, there is still a severe lack of quality about this Villa team, in all areas.

Mick McCarthy has done a very good job since taking over at Ipswich, lifting them off the bottom of the Championship and out of the relegation zone.

He knows his first job is to keep them up, which I think he will do, and I don't think Ipswich will be too disappointed to lose this game if it means they can focus on climbing to safety.

This is a chance for Villa to restore a bit more of their shattered confidence, because I cannot see Town ripping them open like everyone else has been doing on a regular basis, their defence is mess, it resembles Jordan's Jacky danny, like a ripped out fireplace.

Lawro's prediction: 2-1

[Risso]

I sense a tiny amendment to that!

[Rip Van We Go Again]

Whenever I think of McCarthy, it takes me back to when he was a co-commentator in the World Cup for one of Italy's games when Luca Toni was up front.
Italy were struggling and McCarthy's expert solution was
'They ought to 'it it up 't big man upfront.'

A footballing genius!