Carling Cup second-round preview
Accrington Stanley are preparing for one of the biggest games in their history on Wednesday as they entertain Newcastle United at the Crown Ground.
The League Two side have been rewarded for their victory over Doncaster with a home tie against the north-east giants, who are set to field a severely weakened side for the second-round clash. But underestimating the minnows could prove costly, as Accrington have a fantastic record in this competition over the past few seasons. They reached the fourth round last season before being knocked out against Fulham.
Newcastle though will travel west full of confidence following their shock 6-0 win over Aston Villa. Squad players including Leon Best, Tamas Kadar, Ole Soderberg and Shola Ameobi could all make their first starts of the season for the Toon, along with youngsters Nile Ranger, Shane Ferguson and Ben Tozer as Chris Hughton will look to shuffle his pack.
Fellow Premier League big-hitters Everton also have a potential banana skin tie at home to League One promotion hopefuls Huddersfield. The Terriers have sold out their allocation of tickets at Goodison Park and will go there hopeful of causing an upset. However, it looks as though Everton are looking to progress in this competition according to left-back Leighton Baines, and will be wary of the challenge that their visitors will bring.
“I think, as much as the league, the cup competitions are as important to us," Baines told the club’s official website. "There is no Europa League for us this year, so want to be in those cup competitions for as long as we can, obviously with the aim of making the final and winning the competition. The early rounds are the ones which can sometimes prove to be tricky fixtures and we have come unstuck in some games against lower league opposition in the cup games in the past."
West Ham have endured a torrid start to the new season, losing both their games and conceding six goals, and they will looking to gather some momentum with a professional performance against League Two side Oxford United, who won this competition in 1986.
Defender Winston Reid is likely to feature for West Ham, the New Zealand international came on for the injured Matthew Upson at the weekend and could start Tuesday's cup tie. Oxford are likely to be without Damian Batt, who has an ankle knock, so manager Chris Wilder is set to call on Ben Purkiss to fill in at right-back.
Sam Allardyce is well renowned for playing weaker teams in this competition and it looks as though that isn’t about to change. Keith Andrews, David Dunn, Pascal Chimbonda, Vince Grella, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Paul Robinson will all be rested for the clash against Norwich at Ewood Park.
"If you're in something you might as well go and try and win it,” said Norwich manager Paul Lambert. Think it’s safe to say there won’t be many changes to the Norwich line up for Tuesday.
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