Stoke City entered this year’s FA Cup in the third round with a trip to Hartlepool United after the turn of the year, and they comfortably advanced with a 3-0 victory, as Jacob Brown got on the scoresheet between a pair of own goals.
That came after a tough run of form in the Championship for Alex Neil’s men following the World Cup break, and following the cup victory, the Potters travelled to take on second-placed Sheffield United and suffered a third straight league defeat, eventually losing 3-1 at Bramall Lane after Nick Powell initially pulled it back to 2-1 late in the first half.
Such a result saw the Staffordshire outfit sit 19th in England’s second tier with just 30 points from their opening 27 outings, and they set out to bounce back at home to Reading last Saturday to begin a climb back up the division.
Neil’s men succeeded in doing so and triumphed in dominant fashion, as Will Smallbone, Tyrese Campbell, Jacob Brown and Dwight Gayle all found the net in a 4-0 thrashing, sending them back up to 18th place as a result with just a six-point gap to the top half.
Now with a degree of renewed confidence following that performance and result, the Potters will turn their attention to the FA Cup and aim to avoid an upset at home to fourth-tier opposition on Sunday with the chance to advance to the final 16 for the second straight season.
Their opponents, meanwhile, will aim to cause another upset, having already navigated their way through three rounds to reach this stage of the competition, firstly coming out of a trip to fifth-tier Gateshead with a 3-2 victory.
Steve Evans’s side then travelled to take on Kings Lynn Town and triumphed in more comfortable fashion, eventually winning 3-0 thanks to a Luke Norris brace and a Jamie Reid goal to set up a difficult third-round tie away at Premier League outfit Aston Villa.
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After a valiant effort in that game, the Boro looked set to bow out of the competition as the hosts led 1-0 through Morgan Sanson going into the dying embers, but Reid would convert a
penalty in the 88th minute to draw his side level before Dean Campbell found the net at the beginning of injury time to seal a memorable win and set up a fourth-straight away cup tie.
Now coming into another tough game as major underdogs, Evans’s men will travel plenty of confidence of their own, having won a crucial contest against first-placed Leyton Orient in League Two last weekend to cut the gap to top spot to just two points.
Reid and Norris were again on the scoresheet alongside Jordan Roberts as they stretched their lead over third place to nine points, and they will now briefly put their promotion hunt on hold with the aim of continuing an eye-catching cup run and advancing to the fifth round for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
