Source: Daily_Mail
Birmingham v Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke v Brighton live
Follow Sportsmail's coverage of the FA Cup where there are two games to kick-off the fifth round action. Birmingham host Sheffield Wednesday at St Andrews while Stoke take on Brighton at the Britannia Stadium as both Premier League sides will look to avoid a slip up against their League One counterparts. Email me your thoughts on the action at dan.ripley@dailymail.co.uk[LNB] FA Cup fifth round (3pm)Birmingham 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday FT[LNB]Stoke 3-0 Brighton FT[LNB]16.59: But now we turn our attention to the one we have all been waiting for.[LNB]Click here to follow our live coverage of Manchester United v Crawley for the day's final fifth round tie.[LNB]Maybe the non-league side can provide us with an upset...[LNB]From here that is all from me, thank you for following.[LNB]16.57: As far as avoiding upsets go, that was two textbooks displays in how to sort out lower league opposition.[LNB]Birmingham and Stoke never looked in doubt of reaching the quarter-finals and fully deserve their places there.[LNB]16.54: Full-time: Birmingham 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday[LNB]16.53: Full-time: Stoke 3-0 Brighton[LNB]16.51: Chance for a fourth for Stoke, Fuller's shot ends up in the side netting after Brezovan unconvincingly parries it away.[LNB]16.49: Three minutes added on at the Britannia, but time was up on this cup tie a long time ago.[LNB]16.47: And the final sub from Stoke. Dean Whitehead is on for Pennant.[LNB]16.45: Two quick chances for both teams at the Britannia. Baz manages to test Sorenesen with a right foot drive which the Dane does well to claim, and moments later Fuller has a shot well parried away by Peter Brezovan.[LNB]16.42: Not happening still for Wednesday, with Mellor heading wide form a cross.[LNB]16.39: Professional possession play from the Premier League sides but Brighton can taker heart knowing they have improved at the very least this half.[LNB]How much of that is Stoke letting off though I would not like to speculate.[LNB]16.36: Final sub from Brighton as Cristian Baz comes on for Barnes.[LNB]16.34: Interesting pictures from St Andrews. Johnson has quite a public fall-out with his boss Alex McLeish after being subbed and he is sitting very glum faced in the dugout.[LNB]16.32: With action lacking, time for some stats from our friends at InfoStradaLive:[LNB]With Birmingham City 3-0 up, they have now scored 10 FA Cup goals this season, their highest total for 39 years.[LNB] Control: Stoke's Pugh (right) challenges Brighton's Bennett[LNB]16.29: Couple of successive corners for the Seagulls, but Elliott Bennett wastes the second one after he scuffs his kick. Sums up their day.[LNB]16.26: Could be a long end to these cup ties. Wednesday look to have surrendered since conceding that third goal, while Brighton for all their positive play just can't muster a chance.[LNB]16.23: And Birmingham make their final sub. Johnson on a booking is replaced by Jordon Mutch.[LNB]16.20: Moments after firing just wide across goal, Carew is given a big cheer as he is replaced by Kenwyne Jones.[LNB]16.18: Double change from Brighton, and this shows their mentality for this cup tie.[LNB]Agustin Battipied is replaced by 16-year-old Jake Caskey while top scorer Murray is off for Francisco Sandaza.[LNB]16.15: Quite flat at the Britannia, Stoke not pushing for the third and Brighton have hardly gave Sorensen any problems.[LNB]16.12: GOAL! BIRMINGHAM 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday[LNB]That's that one done and dusted. Keith Fahey's corner is not the best and Weaver appears to be fouled after he falls to ground to try and claim it. No sympathy from David Murphy though, who all but crashes City in to the quarter-finals from close range.[LNB] Up for the cup? St Andrews was far from full[LNB]16.09: Some pressure from Wednesday. Morrison's shot is well saved by Colin Doyle and Daniel Jones' rebound is cleared by Bowyer.[LNB]16.05: And also at St Andrews, where Kevin Phillips replaces Cameron Jerome for the home side.[LNB]Wednesday boss Megson has used all three of his subs now making a double change, with Mark Beevers on for Michael Morrison and Liam Palmer on for O'Connor.[LNB]16.03: Underway again at Britannia where Brighton striker Ashley Barnes has already had an attempt on goal...a speculative 40-yard-effort that doesn't trouble Thomas Sorensen[LNB]16.00: For Wednesday, I still think their is a chance of them saving this tie. They had good spells of possession in that first-half and 2-0 leads suddenly look very vulnerable if the losing side pulls a goal back. [LNB]15.55: I know in recent weeks, writing off teams who are three or four goals down at half-time has come back to bite many people.[LNB]But there just is no way back for Brighton and I can't see Gustavo Poyet trying to chase a replay that he could do without.[LNB]15.49: Half-time: Birmingham 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday[LNB]15.47: A bit of time added on at St Andrews after that Hleb injury, routine stuff for City so far.[LNB]15.46: Half-time: Stoke 3-0 Brighton[LNB] Threesy does it: Ryan Shawcross headed Stoke's third goal against brighton[LNB]15.44: GOAL! STOKE 3-0 Brighton[LNB]This is just too easy, another cross comes in and at the back post Ryan Shawcross can barely believe his luck as he nods the Potters surely in to the quarter-finals.[LNB]15.41: My mistake, Wednesday made a tactical substitution around 10 minutes ago with Mark Reynolds coming off for Richard Hinds. Gary Megson's side were getting taken apart on the counter attack.[LNB]15.39: More injury woe for the Premier League clubs. This time though it's Stoke with the problem with Etherington limping off and Ricardo Fuller replacing him.[LNB]15.36: Wednesday a bit rash in their play, Tommy Spurr is now booked after a foul on Beausejour. Likewise City looking more likely to get the next goal at St Andrews.[LNB]15.33: Matthew Etherington is especially causing trouble down the left for Inigo Calderon and the Potters are looking good to get a third.[LNB] Double top: Walters' scored Stoke's second of the afternoon[LNB]15.30: The play has died off the back of it as well, Stoke and Birmingham are in cruise control and their opponents just can't touch them.[LNB]15.27: It took 210 minutes plus penalties to decide a winner between Chelsea and Everton, but these ties look all over after quarter-of-an-hour. Not a good day for lower league sides.[LNB]15.24: It's not all good news for the Premier League sides. James O'Connor's challenge on Hleb is very poor and he receives a booking.[LNB]It's worse for the City player though who has to be taken off on a stretcher, David Bentley is on in his place.[LNB]15.21: GOAL! STOKE 2-0 Brighton[LNB]Just too easy for the Premier League sides today. Marc Wilson swings a cross from the right and Jon Walters makes it look simple as he glances a header across goal. I have to admit the keeping has left a lot to be desired there.[LNB] Off the mark: Martins (17) celebrates his first goal for Birmingham[LNB]15.18: GOAL! BIRMINGHAM 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday[LNB]Every time the Blues go forward they look like scoring but this is poor from Wednesday. Obafemi Martins easily manages to run through the visitors defence before calmly slotting the ball past Nick Weaver for his first City goal.[LNB] Great start: Carew celebrates opening the scoring for Stoke[LNB]15.15: GOAL! STOKE 1-0 Brighton[LNB]Those Rory Delap throw ins have been causing problems for the visitors and they finally crack as John Carew is on hand to bundle one in from close range.[LNB]15.12: A response from Wednesday. A clever back-heel from Clinton Morrison sends Neil Mellor through on goal but Roger Johnson does superbly to track back and get a perfectly timed tackle in.[LNB]15.09: GOAL! BIRMINGHAM 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday[LNB]That's silenced the away support. Good work from Alexander Hleb finds Lee Bowyer on the flank, who manages to drill in a cross that Jean Beausejour makes no mistake in converting.[LNB]15.07: It's Brighton playing all the football in the early stages at the Britannia Stadium.[LNB]Glenn Murray manages to get a dangerous cross in to the box but Robert Huth does well to turn it away with plenty of Brighton players ready to dispatch it.[LNB]15.04: Quiet start at St Andrews, the home fans have not exactly packed St Andrews out but there is 6,000 Sheffield Wednesday that have traveled and they are making all the noise.[LNB]15.02: And we are underway in the fifth round.[LNB]14.59: DRAMA! Looks like we are heading for penalties at Stamford Bridge, Mark Lawford with the details.[LNB]14.56: We better not get started on the semi-finals being at Wembley...I might blow a fuse.[LNB]14.53: Which of course brings us to their opponents today, Stoke.[LNB]Tony Pulis has turned the Potters in to an established Premier League club but they have a fantastic chance to go all the way in the famous old competition this season.[LNB]Plenty of teams find it difficult to travel to Stoke and at the Britannia Stadium they will fancy their chances against anyone. A win today and a home draw in the quarter-final and suddenly Wembley doesn't seem very far way at all.[LNB]14.50: Brighton may also be more concerned with earning promotion back in to the Championship but with three points and two games in hand at the top of League One, surely the Seagulls can flirt with the idea of a cup run.[LNB]14.47: But Sheffield Wednesday, you have no excuse! Mid-table looks likely for the Owls this term and with a quarter-final place at stake, maybe, just maybe the days of 1993 will pay a flying visit.[LNB]14.44: Back on to my intro though, I can understand the financial rewards are huge for staying in the Premier League and can understand Birmingham and their fans for focusing more on surviving in the top flight than (another) trip to Wembley.[LNB]But nobody remembers the starting XI that beats the drop on the final day of the season and an FA Cup winning side goes down in folklore.[LNB]14.41: Ah there has finally been a goal at Stamford Bridge, click on the below link to find out who has got it.[LNB]14.38: From the Britannia stadium:[LNB]Stoke v BrightonStoke: Sorensen, Wilson, Shawcross, Huth, Pugh, Pennant, Whelan, Delap, Etherington, Walters, Carew. Subs: Nash, Higginbotham, Collins, Jones, Fuller, Whitehead, Wilkinson.Brighton: Brezovan, Calderon, Elphick, Greer, Painter, Bennett, Bridcutt, Battipiedi, Dicker, Murray, Barnes. Subs: Ankergren, Baz, Holroyd, Sandaza, Taricco, Caskey, Dunk.Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire)[LNB]14.35: There is still one other game going on in the FA Cup today. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea v Everton finished goalless after 90 minutes and that fourth round tie has gone to extra-time.[LNB]If that all Premier League clash takes your fancy, click here to follow Sportsmail's Mark Lawford's coverage of that match.[LNB]14.33: Lineups from St Andrews:[LNB]Birmingham v Sheff WedBirmingham: Doyle, Carr, Johnson, Murphy, Parnaby, Fahey, Bowyer, Hleb, Beausejour, Jerome, Martins. Subs: Foster, Larsson, Gardner, Phillips, Bentley, Zigic, Mutch.Sheff Wed: Weaver, Spurr, Michael Morrison, Reda Johnson, Reynolds, Teale, O'Connor, Osbourne, Jones, Clinton Morrison, Mellor. Subs: Jameson, Hinds, Heffernan, Potter, Beevers,Sedgwick, Palmer.Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)[LNB]14.30: A pesky distraction in the late season or a final hope of glory in a team's campaign? The FA Cup (and especially its replays) has lost its appeal in recent years due to among other reasons, league position and its financial rewards taking more importance.[LNB]But I am going to do my best to defend it. I may be in a quiet minority here but surely a famous day out at Wembley in May is more worthy than an extra few quid in the kitty? Team news on the way.[LNB] Loan star: David Bentley (left) played a key role in Birmingham's fightback against Coventry in the fourth round[LNB] Birmingham wrap up new four-year deal for promising youngster MutchGudjohnsen could have future at Fulham when loan deal expiresAll the latest Birmingham news, features and opinionAll the latest Stoke news, features and opinion[LNB] Explore more:People: Tony Pulis, Lee Bowyer, Robert Huth, John Carew, Roger Johnson, Obafemi Martins, David Bentley, Matthew Etherington, Ryan Shawcross, Gary Megson, Thomas Sorensen, Kevin Phillips, David Murphy, Alex McLeish, Dean Whitehead Places: Birmingham, Manchester
