Bendtner will come back into the side in place of Jay Simpson after not being heavily involved in recent first team duties and with Adebayor back fit. It could also perhaps be time to unleash Bischoff with Randall not having his best game against Wigan

What a way to end a rather terrible month, in which our only league victories have bizarrely come against Manchester United and Chelsea. Whether Sunday’s win is a turning point in this turbulent season or another section of the highlight reel in our march to fourth place will be seen in our results against Wigan and Middlesbrough in the next couple of weeks, but for now our attentions turn back to the Carling Cup where our kids (well, the younger kids) are, as what now seems like tradition, trailblazing a route to the latter stages. It will be interesting to see how this year’s batch of youngsters deals with a potentially tricky away tie, without the benefit of 50,000 fans cheering them on. We drew Burnley in the third round of the FA Cup last season, and despite us taking the lead early on and them going down to ten men in the second half, they gave a really good showing of themselves and it was far from an easy passage to the next round. Expect more of the same today.

Burnley are in decent form in the Championship, winning seven of their last ten games and finding themselves firmly in the playoff places. I’ve been told they’re a passing side, as Championship teams go, rather than a side that will aim to kick lumps out of us, but I’m sure they’ll also be looking to assert a physical edge. They beat a Chelsea side that included Alex, Deco, Malouda, Kalou and Drogba at Stamford Bridge, so clearly we’re not looking at an easy win. While they probably won’t make the mistake of underestimating our Carling Cup team, they’ll also go into this game with the confidence that they can win and make it to the semi finals. While the teams that play in the Carling Cup and the league are completely different, it would be nice to get a run of wins going in general, as consistency is something we’ve found it impossible to achieve this season. This game should be fascinating to watch, and here’s to the inevitable semi final tie with Spurs should we win on Tuesday.

Team News

Mostly the usual Carling Cup side I’d expect, without too many surprises. Bendtner will come back into the side in place of Jay Simpson after not being heavily involved in recent first team duties and with Adebayor back fit. It could also perhaps be time to unleash Bischoff with Randall not having his best game against Wigan. With the centre back pairing from the previous rounds of Song and Djourou playing in the first team against Chelsea, I’m not sure how we’ll line up in defence. Silvestre will play, probably doubling the average age of the side and adding a bit of experience for what could be a tough away tie. He might even get the captain’s armband for this game. Djourou picked up a knock against Chelsea, so either Song will partner Silvestre or we’ll delve even further into the youth team and come up with another defender from somewhere. Maybe we’ll check the local maternity ward.

Burnley