Spurs v City. Match preview

Last updated : 17 January 2007 By Michael Morris
White Hart Lane
Wednesday 17 January
Third Round Replay
Kick-off: 2000 GMT
Referee: Mike Riley (Yorkshire)
Winners : home to Southend in the fourth round
Coverage on the BBC Sport website and BBC Radio Five Live


Tottenham skipper Ledley King remains sidelined with a bruised foot and will miss the FA Cup third round replay.

Robbie Keane has recovered from his knee injury and is in contention for a starting place, but Jermaine Jenas, Paul Stalteri and Mido are still out.

Paul Parry remains out for Cardiff and Kerrea Gilbert is an injury doubt.

But striker Steven Thompson returns from suspension.


Tottenham (from): Robinson, Cerny, Alnwick, Chimbonda, Lee, Davenport, Dawson, Gardner, Assou-Ekotto, Zokora, Davids, Tainio, Lennon, Keane, Berbatov, Defoe, Murphy, Ghaly, Malbranque, Huddlestone, Ziegler.

Cardiff team news to follow later.

BIG-MATCH FACTS

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR were held to a goalless draw by Cardiff at the first time of asking at Ninian Park on the Sunday before last. Now they have another opportunity to avoid the fate they suffered last season when knocked out at this third round stage by Championship opposition. Then it was Leicester City, by the odd goal in five, away from home.

Spurs have a good FA Cup pedigree. Only Manchester United (11) and Arsenal (10) have won football's oldest knock out competition more often. Since last lifting the silverware for the eighth time in 1991, the White Hart Lane club have reached the semi-finals four times and the quarter-finals on a further two occasions.

The north Londoners last beat Cardiff in the second round of the Worthington League, when Teddy Sheringham scored the only goal on 1 October 2002. They lead the FA Cup head to head count by two wins to one, but those victories were in 1922 and 1923. The former was the most recent at the Lane by the odd goal in three in a fourth round replay.

CARDIFF CITY were finding it hard to lose in the opening two months of the season - now they've gone two months without a victory. The Welsh club have drawn eight and lost four in League and Cup, since defeating Burnley on 11 November, their only victory in 14. Defeat home to Southend last Saturday, ended a run of five successive stalemates. It leaves the early Championship pacesetters in eighth place, 20 spots lower than their opponents, who are eighth in the Premiership. Cardiff have not scored in nine of 12, including the last four. That also takes in the meeting with Tottenham in which Michael Chopra missed their best chance.

The only occasion the Bluebirds have progressed beyond the third round in the last seven years was in 2002, when they pulled off a giant-killing of then top Premiership scalp Leeds in the third round at Ninian Park.

The only non-English winners have only knocked out Spurs once in their history - that being the most recent of the three occasions in which they've been drawn together. Peter Sayer scored the only goal of the game, as the Second Division Welsh outfit lowered the colours of Keith Burkinshaw's side in a third round tie on 8 January 1977.