Source: Telegraph
Bore draw for Sunderland and Blackburn
Casually tossing the magic of the FA Cup back in the face of this great competition, Sam Allardyce, the Blackburn Rovers manager, suggested the replay of this dour tie was a match both clubs could do without. [LNB]Not according to the Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia, who immediately identified the Ewood Park return fixture, a week on Wednesday, as an ideal opportunity for several players to serve suspensions.[LNB] "It could work out well for us," he said, without a hint of irony. "We could have a few players on four bookings by then and we might try and get them to miss the cup game." [LNB]Allardyce went on to admit that failing to win this fourth round tie at the first attempt was not the biggest disappointment on a day of many for a small crowd starved of genuine goalmouth action. [LNB]Rovers' manager could live with the draw but he added, angrily: "Vince Grella had to come off at the end following a very late tackle [by the Sunderland midfielder Andy Reid]. That will be the biggest thing that we'll regret from this game - if he's not fit for Wednesday's league match or the weekend." [LNB]At least Allardyce and Sbragia were honest in their appraisal of a competition which means absolutely nothing to two managers fighting a relegation battle with far wider implications than a possible trip to Wembley. On Wearside on Saturday the FA Cup was not simply devalued, it was consigned to the bargain basement. [LNB]"I know Ricky made a lot of changes and it probably wasn't his strongest 11," explained Allardyce, as if to underline the unimportance of a game which often resembled a mid-season friendly. "By the same token mine wasn't. I have two priorities - the first is to survive in the Premier League." It was only as an afterthought that Allardyce added: "The second is to go as far in the cup as possible." [LNB]Match details[LNB]Sunderland: Fulop, Chimbonda, Ferdinand, Collins, Bardsley (McCartney 65), Edwards, Leadbitter, Malbranque, Reid, Healy (Jones 67), ChopraSubs: Colgan, Cisse, Diouf, Murphy, YorkeBlackburn: Robinson, Simpson, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock (Givet 73), Olsson (Haworth 56), Mokoena, Grella, Pedersen, Roque Santa Cruz (Villanueva 67), McCarthySubs: Bunn, Emerton, Khizanishvili, AndrewsBooked: Olsson, Mokoena, SambaReferee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire). [LNB]
