Sheffield United will aim to capitalise on Aston Villa's league woe in the FA Cup third round.
Blades and Villa hope to overcome poor league form
Sheffield United will aim to capitalise on Aston Villa's league woe in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.
Although Villa earned a point at Chelsea last weekend, they slipped into the Premier League's bottom three following Wednesday night's 1-0 home defeat by Sunderland.
And the pressure is mounting on manager Gerard Houllier with Villa having won just five and lost nine of his 19 games in charge.
Micky Adams is also hoping to build on a rousing fightback on Monday in his first home game as Blades boss.
Although United went 2-0 down to 10-man Doncaster they managed to salvage a point with two late goals from Daniel Bogdanovic and Rob Kozluk.
The Blades have been in league trouble themselves, though, as they lie one point above the Championship drop zone having won just one of their last seven matches.
Team news
Adams is "down to the bare bones" with striker Richard Cresswell the latest casualty at Bramall Lane after suffering a shoulder problem against Doncaster which will keep him out for four to six weeks.
Midfielder Stephen Quinn continues his three-match ban for a red card at Norwich and he is joined by loanee Andy Reid, who received a retrospective ban for his involvement in the same scuffle, though he would not have been eligible to play anyway.
Matty Lowton (groin), Richard Wright (thigh), Nyron Nosworthy and Stephen Jordan (both ankle) are all sidelined while Jordan Slew will be assessed after reporting ill on Thursday.
Emile Heskey begins a three-match ban for Villa after being sent off in the midweek defeat by Sunderland.
But Villa could hand a debut to Kyle Walker against his former club after Houllier managed to sign the full-back on loan from Tottenham on Thursday until the end of the season.
