This is no ordinary match, and what lies ahead is no ordinary challenge. There can’t be any club in the country where the FA Cup means more to its supporters. In fact, I can’t think of any other trophy in football that means as much to anyone as the cup does to us. It’s the holy grail, our obsession. Every season we try and every season we fail, usually without putting up too much of a fight. This time it’s different.

This time we’ve got the best squad any Villa manager has ever had at his disposal. World-class talent, big-match players, game-changers. We’ve got all them and more. Not only that, but the stars are aligning. Usually when the Big Clubs get knocked out of a cup we follow seconds later. Not this time. We’ve also got a fully-fit squad to choose from for the first time since Florence Nightingale was looking after them.

The opposition are the sort of nondescript club who’ll be enjoying their big day out, the Washington Generals to our Harlem Globetrotters. If you want to see how they’re feeling about it all, look at the ticket touting sites – theirs are going for not much above face, ours are nowhere to be seen. They knocked our reserves out of the League Cup and gave the first team a kick up the arse a few weeks ago. This time it’s serious.

They’ve got a few decent players and a load of annoying supporters. Talking of supporters, the next king won’t be there because he’s got a funeral to go to but don’t try asking for his ticket as it’s gone already. It’s in the morning so he’ll be able to watch on TV.