Blues without Distin for replay

Manchester City skipper Sylvain Distin again missed out as the Blues looked to seal only their third FA Cup quarter-final berth in 25 years at the expense of Aston Villa.

Distin sat out Saturday’s defeat at Portsmouth with a groin problem and had not recovered in time to face David O’Leary’s men so Micah Richards, whose last-minute goal at Villa Park earned City their replay, started in central defence alongside Richard Dunne.

Claudio Reyna was axed as Albert Riera returned for the hosts, while Patrik Berger returned to the Villa starting line-up for the first time since injuring his knee on the Midlands outfit’s previous visit to Eastlands in October.

Man City v Aston Villa teams

Man City: James, Jihai, Dunne, Richards, Jordan, Sinclair, Barton, Musampa, Riera, Samaras, Vassell.

Subs: Weaver, Sommeil, Reyna, Sibierski, Wright-Phillips.

Aston Villa: Sorensen, Hughes, Mellberg, Ridgewell, Bouma, McCann, Davis, Berger, Barry, Baros, Phillips.

Subs: Taylor, Samuel, Whittingham, Moore, Gardner.

Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire)