Crawley v Stoke Tip

Crawley manager Steve Evans has been quoted in the build-up to this clash as saying Stoke have ‘Championship players’. Regardless of whether he meant to be disrespectful to Sunday’s visitors to the Broadfield Stadium, the team talk, as they say, has already been done for Tony Pulis.

The League Two side have enjoyed some memorable moments in the FA Cup over the last couple of seasons, but they still play three tiers below the Potters week in week out. With such a discrepancy on the league ladder, I find it amazing that you can get better than evens money (21/20 StanJames) on Stoke winning this fifth round clash at the first attempt.

The Red Devils have some problems coming into this fixture. First choice goalkeeper Scott Shearer is missing with a knee injury while star striker Matt Tubbs left on transfer deadline day. The two players bought to fill that considerable void are both cup-tied for this one. After a 3-0 defeat to Swindon in midweek, preparations have been far from ideal for the underdogs.

A Stoke side well motivated by the perceived slur against their quality should win this tie.