Sky Blues On The Road - Torquay United

The game is one of the designated ITV Highlight ties and extended highlights will be shown on ITV1 at 10pm on Saturday night. Both sides will receive £7,500 for appearing on TV. Some foreign television stations are showing the game live, so it may be worth trawling the net or satellite tv stations, if you missed out on a ticket.

The winners of the match will pick up £100,000. If necessary, there will be a replay at the Ricoh Arena on Tuesday February 3rd at 7.45pm.

FA Cup rules
http://www.thefa.com/NR/rdonlyres/88E4F314-784F-492D-A2C8-B531A99B5732/147348/FACupRules.PDF
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TICKETS
This match is all ticket and all tickets have been sold.
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WEATHER
Sunny intervals with a high of eight degrees is forecast.
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THE LAST TIME
This is the 40th meeting of the two sides with Coventry having won 22 of those games. There has been 8 draws. City have scored 95 goals compared to Torquay's 47.

City have met Torquay United twice before in the FA Cup, In 1949, Second Division City, managed by Harry Storer, lost 1-0 at Third Division Torquay in front of 14,000 at Plainmoor.

The second meeting was in 1988 when the FA Cup holders took on Torquay at Highfield Road. On a pitch resembling a beach due to heaving sanding the night before, that ensured the game went ahead, a penalty from Brian Kilcline and a tap in from Cyrille Regis gave City a 2-0 win.

The last game against Torquay was a 4-1 win for the Sky Blues in a League Cup tie on August 25th 2004 at Highfield Road in front of a gate of 6,180. Stephen Hughes opened the scoring for City with substitute Patrick Suffo scoring twice. Kuffour pulled one back for the Gulls before Andy Morrell completed the scoring. Michael Doyle is the only member of that City team still at the club.

Coventry City's last game at Torquay United was a testimonial on August 1st 1997 and gave the Sky Blues a comfortable 4-1 win.

Head to Head http://www.coventrycity-mad.co.uk/footydb/loadhed.asp
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THE MATCH OFFICIALS
The currently scheduled referee for this FA Cup Fourth Round game is Kevin Friend.

Leicestershire based Mr Friend was in charge of City's 1-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday in November. He cautioned four players on that day and has shown 79 yellow cards and three red in 27 matches this season.

His last Torquay game was a 2-1 defeat at Colchester in May 2005. He was also in charge of their 2-1 home defeat by Stockport on January 1st 2005.

The Assistants are S.Creighton & A.Williams. The fourth official is J.Singh.
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TRAVEL
Club Coach Departs 9.30am.

By car : 195 miles from Coventry
M5 to Exeter, then follow A380 to Newton Abbot (Penn Inn Roundabout). Follow signs to Torquay, past the Willows Shopping Centre, then next left at traffic lights. Follow signs for Torquay United FC/Plainmoor through 3 roundabouts. At top of hill traffic lights go straight on into Warbro Road. The ground is on the right hand side. Away turnstiles are just off of Warbro Road (down the lane next to the Gulls Lodge).

By Train :
Nearest station - Torquay (usually change at Newton Abbot, if not on a through train to Paignton). There is a bus stop on the seafront that takes you into the town centre - No.12 to Cary Parade.

There is engineering work that weekend between Exeter and Newton Abbot and there will be a replacement bus service.

Local Bus Routes :
Route 34 - From Cary Parade (outside amusement arcade) to Plainmoor. Cross at Zebra Crossing next to Spar shop, walk up to Plainmoor Road into Marnham Road.

Route 32 - From outside Debenhams (opposite harbour) to St.Marychurch Town Hall. Walk down Manor Road, turn left at lights into Warbro Road.

Chip Shop
There is a good chippy round the corner from the ground called Drakes. It is in St Marychurch Road near the traffic lights.
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BETTING ODDS
The Sky Blues are 10/11 to win with Torquay 14/5. You can get 23/10 on a draw.
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TEAM NEWS
Marcus Hall should return after severing his septum. Robbie Simpson should be ok to start after coming on against Blackpool last week and is likely to replaced the departed Jay Tabb but Stephen Wright is suspended.

Torquay boss Paul Buckle has a full squad to choose from.
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ON THE GAME
Steve Ogrizovic, who played against Torquay in the FA Cup said to the CT: "We can't underestimate how dangerous Torquay United will be. "They will be confident after beating Blackpool from our division in the previous round and they think they can do it again. But we are on a good run and we have to keep that going."

Torquay defender Lee Hodges told This Is South Devon.co.uk: "When we won that tie, you could really hear our crowd. "It's tight at Plainmoor, and the fans are close to the pitch. "It's great news that it's a sell-out and, if it was loud against Blackpool, it should be even better against Coventry. "This game is no different to the Blackpool tie. "Coventry have got quick forwards up front, and their wide players are decent. "But if we make sure we're up and together on the day, we can do well against them. "We didn't do a lot wrong against Blackpool, and I thought 1-0 was a bit harsh on us in the end and we will get chances on Saturday, and it's a case of whether we can take them."
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FRIDAY FIXTURES

FA ACADEMY LEAGUE Coventry City U18's V Cardiff City

Southern League Rothwell Town V Nuneaton Town

SATURDAY FIXTURES

FA CUP
Hartlepool v West Ham (12.40 Live on ITV), Hull City v Millwall, Sunderland v Blackburn, Sheff Utd v Charlton, Portsmouth v Swansea, Chelsea v Ipswich, Doncaster Rovers v Aston Villa, WBA v Burnley,Kettering v Fulham, Watford v Palace, Wolves v Middlesbrough, Man United v Tottenham (5.15pm Live on ITV)

Southern League Prem
Halesowen Town V Rugby Town

Southern League Midland
Atherstone Town V Romulus, Barton Rovers V Bedworth United, Stourport V Leamington,

Midland Alliance
Coventry Sphinx V Stratford Town, Racing Club Warwick V Boldmere St Michaels

Midland Combination Premier Division
Bartley Green V Southam, Coventry Copsewood V Brocton, Nuneaton Griff V Knowle, Pilkington XXX V Massey Ferguson

Midland Combination Division 3
Coton Green Res v Coventry Amateurs 2pm

Midland Combination Reserve
Coleshill Town V Coventry Sphinx

SUNDAY FIXTURES

FA CUP
SUN Cardiff v Arsenal (1.30), Liverpool v Everton (4pm) Both live on Setanta.