Home incentive for Bluebirds

Leo Fortune-West hit the post with a strong header

A home tie against struggling First Division side Stockport County is Cardiff's incentive for beating Crewe Alexandra in the FA Cup third round replay on Tuesday week.

The Bluebirds felt they deserved better than the 1-1 draw against Crewe on Saturday, hitting the woodwork four times and missing many other clear-cut opportunities.

According to City midfielder Kevin Evans, provided they beat Crewe, a win against Stockport at 'fortress' Ninian Park is a strong possibility.

He said: "They are in a similar situation as Crewe in the First Division.

"So if we can turn Crewe over, it gives us a good opportunity to beat Stockport at home.

Crewe are a very organised side, and it took us a long time to break them down

  Kevin Evans

"Every team from the lower divisions want to get matched against one of the big hitters," added Evans.

"But we'll just look at this as an incentive to get through to the next round."

Promotion priority

City manager Alan Cork, however, has told his players to concentrate on gaining promotion instead of dreaming of a magical cup run.

"I'm more worried about the Southend game, because they got beaten in the cup and when a team gets beaten by non-league opposition they normally come out firing," he said.

"So that's the big game at the moment."

Looking ahead to the Crewe replay Kevin Evans is anticipating a far more open game.

"Crewe are a very organised side, and it took us a long time to break them down.

"We had a couple of good opportunities to win the game - but I think they'll come at us a bit more and play more of an open game which should suit us."

The replay at Gresty Road on Tuesday, 16 January is an all ticket affair and no tickets will be sold on the day of the game.