Milner doesn't want to be top of the shocks

James Milner has praised Peter Taylor but intends to ensure Aston Villa are not on the end of another shock result when they visit Hull for an FA Cup third-round clash on Saturday.

Milner has been impressed with Taylor when playing under him for the England U21 side that narrowly missed out on qualification for the 2006 UEFA Championship finals via losing the play-off to France.

But the on-loan Newcastle midfielder, who celebrated his 20th birthday yesterday, is determined to avoid a repeat of the Carling Cup humiliation by Doncaster, who defeated them 3-0 at Belle Vue last month.

Milner said: “I rate Peter Taylor as an excellent manager with really good ideas. He’s got a fantastic record with the U21s.

“We were unlucky not to qualify for the European Championship finals this year and could easily have gone all the way. He’s been involved with the U21s a long time now and I’ve enjoyed working with him.

“He has some great ideas. It’s good working on the training ground with him. He makes you think.

“You know you’re not going to go away feeling down after a training session with him.

“It’s always good fun. You enjoy it and you have a good team spirit when you go away with the U21s.

“That is important when you don’t know each other that well and you’re only together for a short amount of time, but it’s Peter Taylor who helps us achieve that.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for him and he’s also done a good job at Hull and got them promoted twice.

“He’ll have Hull fired up but on Saturday I want to help Villa make the next round of the FA Cup.

“It’s hard to explain how we could lose 3-0 at Doncaster, then get draws at Newcastle and Bolton and then beat Everton 4-0 at the start of a good Christmas.

“But, although being drawn away to Hull is going to be a tough game, there is a determination here to atone for what happened at Doncaster, and we’d rather play there than have to go to Manchester United.”

He added: “We all know why the game will be live on television. They fancy a shock result but it’s up to us to disappoint them.

“We have to be professional and make sure we don’t slip up again like against Doncaster.

“We have to make sure we’re not one of the Premiership teams that falls by the wayside.

“If we can maintain the level of performance we have shown in recent weeks then we should be favourites to reach the next round.”