Aston Villa will be bidding to inflict more FA Cup misery on Cardiff City when they meet in the fifth round on Friday night.
The Premier League giants are looking to bounce back from Tuesday's 4-1 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace, a result which has left them down in 10th place in the top-flight standings.
Unai Emery has dismissed Villa's chance of enjoying success in the FA Cup, insisting that other Premier League sides have more options in their squad than his own.
Nevertheless, the West Midlands outfit have the opportunity to become the first team to reach the quarter-finals of this year's competition as they kick off the eight-game schedule.
On the back of a three-day turnaround, Villa are hoping to extend an unwanted record held by Cardiff to nine matches.
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How have Cardiff struggled?
Since reaching the FA Cup final in 2008, Cardiff have failed to reach the quarter-finals, an eye-catching statistic even for a team that have largely played in the Championship during that period.
Not since that 2007-08 campaign have Cardiff managed to defeat a Premier League side when they have been competing in the EFL, Middlesbrough being overcome by a 2-0 scoreline on that occasion.
A total of eight successive defeats have been posted against top-flight opposition in such fixtures since then, Cardiff having also reached the fifth round for the first time in 11 years.
Coincidentally, Villa hold a similar kind of record, having reached the fifth round for the first time in 10 years and that run commencing on the back of their loss to Arsenal in the 2015 final.
That said, Villa will have total confidence of prevailing on Friday night, with 13 wins and two draws coming from their last 15 home encounters against the Welsh team.
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Do Cardiff have any hope?
As well as Villa potentially being without first-choice goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and looking ahead to Tuesday's Champions League clash with Club Brugge, Cardiff can be delighted with their progress under Omer Riza.
In 14 matches in all competitions, Cardiff have suffered just two defeats - away at Leeds United and Portsmouth respectively - while Sheffield United and Stoke City have been beaten in the previous two rounds.
Furthermore, Cardiff moved six points clear of the Championship relegation zone on Tuesday night with a 1-0 victory over Hull City.
Although they have only won one of their 17 second-tier away fixtures this season, the results at Bramall Lane and the bet365 Stadium since the turn of the year suggest that they have the potential to cause a surprise in this contest.
Darren Plant
