Michael Owen will start his first match in 14 months as Stoke tackle Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round today.

CARDIFF boss Malky Mackay hailed his side’s “nerves of steel” after they reached the Carling Cup final last night after a thrilling penalty shootout win over Championship rivals Crystal Palace last night.

Cardiff 1 Crystal Palace 0 (aggregate 1-1 AET; Cardiff win 3-1 on penalties)

Crystal Palace 1 Cardiff 0

MANCHESTER UNITED avoided further humiliation after their derby drubbing as they breezed through last night’s Carling Cup fourth round clash at Aldershot, winning 3-0.

Leeds 3 Crystal Palace 2

Scotland 3 Wales 1

Liechtenstein 0 Wales 2

Wales boss John Toshack blasted the "sloppy" goals his side conceded in this afternoon's 2-1 World Cup Qualifying Group Four defeat to Finland in Helsinki.

ADRIAN BOOTHROYD was fiercely critical of his Watford side, despite seeing them move to within a point of second-placed Stoke with a 2-1 win over Coventry on Saturday.

Luxembourg 0 Wales 2

Portsmouth 2 Plymouth Argyle 1

Wales 2 Republic of Ireland 2

SKIPPER Ryan Giggs has spelt out the winning mentality that John Toshack wants him to pass on to his evolving Wales squad.

John Toshack expects to have captain Ryan Giggs back and firing on all cylinders for Wales’ crucial European Championship qualifier against the Republic of Ireland next month.

Jose Mourinho has admitted his frustration at being unable to strengthen his Chelsea squad.

Jermaine Easter’s late strike embarrassed Chelsea and earned Wycombe a memorable draw in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final at Adams Park.

Wycombe striker Jermaine Easter admitted he had expected Charlton to put up more of a fight after knocking the Barclays Premiership side out of the Carling Cup last night.

Charlton 0 Wycombe 1

Charlton’s season went from bad to worse tonight as the Barclays Premiership strugglers crashed out of the Carling Cup against Wycombe, who booked a deserved place in the semi-finals.

Coca-Cola League Two side Wycombe have beaten Barclays Premiership team Charlton 1-0 in the Carling Cup quarter-finals.

WYCOMBE produced a major upset to send Fulham tumbling out of the Carling Cup with a famous victory at Craven Cottage.

Manchester City’s miserable start to the season plumbed new depths as Chesterfield dumped them out of the Carling Cup with a 2-1 victory at Saltergate tonight.

Southend moved into the Coca-Cola League Two automatic promotion places with a 2-0 win at Cambridge.

Bottom club Carlisle’s mission impossible to avoid the drop to the Nationwide Conference was boosted as they registered back-to-back wins with a 2-0 success over Oxford, who began the day in third place.