Town visit Burnley on Tuesday evening aiming to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2007.

A home tie against Fleetwood or Sheffield Wednesday, who also meet on Tuesday, awaits the winners of the fourth-round tie at Turf Moor.

Since the teams drew 0-0 at Portman Road 10 days ago, the Clarets have continued their excellent form, extending their Championship winning run to nine matches with a comprehensive 3-0 victory at Norwich City.

Their lead at the top of the table has extended to seven points with Sheffield United having been held to a 0-0 draw at Rotherham, who Town defeated 4-1 in the third round of the FA Cup. The Clarets are 17 points ahead of Middlesbrough in third.

The Blues go into the game off the back of Saturday’s disappointing 1-1 draw at Cambridge United with a big first-v-third League One clash at home to the Owls on Saturday.

Speaking at the weekend, manager Kieran McKenna said he hadn't yet turned his attention to the cup tie, while next Saturday’s fixture against the Owls would be the most significant game of the week.

“I haven’t thought about it too much, 100 per cent of my focus has been on this game, I’ve tried to keep my mind off Burnley completely,” he said.

“I think we all know going into next week that Sheffield Wednesday is the biggest game of the week but on the other hand we need to be competitive as a squad.

“We have worked hard to get to that point and we need to go on and make sure that we represent ourselves with pride.

“So we need to find the right balance to do that while making sure that we have a good team ready for Saturday.”

McKenna, who has said that three or four players didn't make the trip due to minor injuries, seems likely to play a similar side to the one which faced the Clarets in the first match with Vaclav Hladky in goal, the Czech having impressed in the Portman Road tie.

Harry Clarke is cup-tied having played for Stoke earlier in the competition so Janoi Donacien - or perhaps Kane Vincent-Young - will be on the right of the defence. Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess also seem likely to return to the starting XI.

Greg Leigh looks set to play wide on the left with Kayden Jackson wide on the right, while McKenna looks set to hand a second full Town debut to Massimo Luongo in the centre of midfield, probably alongside Cameron Humphreys with skipper Sam Morsy suspended having picked up two bookings in the competition and Lee Evans suffering a knock against the U’s and unikely to be risked.

Two from Marcus Harness, Sone Aluko and Kyle Edwards will be in the number 10 roles with George Hirst potentially given another start as the central striker.

Burnley are also likely to make changes to their side as they did in the first match. Since that game they have signed Irish international striker Michael Obafemi, who is eligible for the tie having not featured in the competition for previous club Swansea City.

At Turf Moor this season, the Clarets are unbeaten having won 11 and drawn four in the Championship and also beat Crawley 3-1 in the Carabao Cup in their only previous home cup match.

If the tie, Town's first fourth-round replay since a 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United in February 1998, is drawn at 90 minutes it will go to 30 minutes’ extra-time and then penalties.

Historically, Town have won 19 of the games between the sides (18 in the league), Burnley 13 (13) with a further 12 (11) ending in draws.

Town most recently won at Turf Moor in the Championship in April 2011 when goals from David Norris and Connor Wickham saw Paul Jewell’s men to a 2-1 victory.

The match at Portman Road 10 days ago ended 0-0 after the top-scoring sides from League One and the Championship were unable to find a goal between them. Harness came closest for Town when he hit the bar in the first half.

Prior to that, the teams had most recently met at the start of January 2016 when they again drew 0-0, this time at Turf Moor.

The result was a fair reflection of a game which was amongst the more entertaining 0-0s.

Blues coach Lee Grant had two spells with the Clarets, a short loan in 2005/06 in which he made one start and then a three-year stay between July 2010 and May 2013 in which he made 125 starts and one sub appearance.

Former Town loan keeper Will Norris, who made 20 Blues appearances in 2019/20, is a Burnley player but is currently on loan at Peterborough United.

Tuesday’s referee is Scott Oldham from Poulton-le-Fylde who has shown 81 yellow cards and one red in 25 games so far this season.

Oldham’s last Town match was the 2-1 defeat at Plymouth in September in which he booked George Edmundson, Sam Morsy, Lee Evans and Marcus Harness.

He was also the man in the middle for the 0-0 draw at Oxford in November 2021 in which he again booked Morsy, Bailey Clements and one member of the home side.

Prior to that, he was in charge of the 4-1 defeat at Doncaster in October 2020 in which he awarded Rovers a penalty after Toto Nsiala felled Josh Sims. He also yellow-carded the centre-half as well as James Wilson and Andre Dozzell.

Oldham also refereed the 1-0 home defeat to Oxford in February 2020 in which he red-carded Jackson for a stamp on visitors’ defender Rob Dickie in the final minute and booked Luke Woolfenden, Luke Garbutt and one U’s player.

Before that he was in charge of the 1-0 win at Rochdale in November 2019 in which he yellow-carded only James Norwood.

Squad from: Walton, Hladky, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Keogh, Burgess, Burns, Vincent-Young, Davis, Leigh, Evans, Luongo, Humphreys, Edwards, Chaplin, Harness, Aluko, Broadhead, Ladapo, Hirst, Jackson.

Photo: TWTD

buzbyblue added 17:13 - Feb 6 Wouldn't be surprised if we won this given how our season is like a roller coaster, but have an awful gut feeling we could get tanked 3 or 4 nil
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ThaiBlue added 17:17 - Feb 6 Im sorry but ive heard far to much this and that from kmk but its about time he delivered as he has all the tools to do it no more exuses please more action please.
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Nomore4 added 19:51 - Feb 6 You do KMcK. And fast. An unthinkable no win in the next 3. And the axe will fall IMO. Simply too much money has been thrown at this. A 3rd gamechanger/3 lions season in div 3 isn't in the planning……
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anditractor added 20:11 - Feb 6 I see that that absolute idiot Sutton has predicted us to lose 5-nil at Burnley !! Is this guy so against us with his predictions which are always wrong. It isn't going to be easy against Burnley but that pr@@k should keep his gob shut. Come on boys show how good we really can be
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OliveR16 added 20:13 - Feb 6 Nomore4 - There is no possibility there will be any manager change this season. That would happen if we were stuck in a poor position next Christmas before the transfer window. There will be some pressure earlier if we fail to make the Play Offs though and on current form that could happen but unlikely. Bluntly if KMcK fails we all fail because we've tried just about everything else already - we may as well give up when he does.

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Runner added 20:40 - Feb 6 So, Scott Oldham is from Poulton, 15 miles approx from Burnley, so that's fare then!!°°!!
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inghamspur added 20:48 - Feb 6 FFS, don't say anything. Put your team out, try your best and see what happens. Let the football and the results do the talking.
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Norfolk_Blue94 added 21:13 - Feb 6 Chris Sutton can go step on a lego
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blues1 added 21:13 - Feb 6 O.ore4. As always, when u come on here, its to spout rubbish. Mckenna is going nowhere. Anfmd nor should he. Any fan who thinks he should, should just stay away. The club doesn't need fans like that. Remember sir bobby. Fans calling for his head after just a few months in charge. Had John cobbold listened to those fans and sacked him, this club wouldn't have had any success. Took him 3 years gefore he even started to get things really going. And after 13 years of this club being run I to the ground under Evans, it could take Mckenna,a,while to get things right here now. Something the new owners have said from day 1. That it could take a few years to get-out of this lge. They have the patience, and so should us fans, however frustrating things can be at times. So why don't we just get behind them regardless, instead of being constantly negative. They need the fans to back them. Not as some fans on saturday, booing them, not just on the final whistle, but also when they came over to thank the fans for their support. Disgraceful support. If players weren't trying, I'd understand it, but they clearly are trying, just it's not always working right now.

16

Toronto_Tractor added 21:49 - Feb 6 It would be bizarre not to go for the win.. 5th round would be a proud achievement with a chance of progressing. 'Resting players' achieves and guarantees nothing regarding the league games.
3

Carberry added 22:48 - Feb 6 I just don't believe he hadn't thought about the Burnley game because he would have been planning team selection at least 2 games ahead. Why come out with that? I'm tired of hearing about Bobby Robson's early days and how everyone should be treated the same way. That was a very different time, did he have money to spend, did he have the luxury of assembling the 'strongest squad in the League', did he have a team of coaching and backroom staff? No, of course not he was doing it on his own. He was an inspirational manager, a quality this one seems to lack. So let's not keep comparing the two of them. Managers need time but that doesn't mean we should watch the wheels come off without objective criticism.

3

churchmans added 00:29 - Feb 7 OLIVEr16 if we don't go up this season then absolutely no way will the investors give him until December 2023! Personally I think we could still go up automatic alot will depend on Saturday and then away at rovers!
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churchmans added 00:29 - Feb 7 OLIVEr16 if we don't go up this season then absolutely no way will the investors give him until December 2023! Personally I think we could still go up automatic alot will depend on Saturday and then away at rovers!
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churchmans added 00:37 - Feb 7 Blues1 that is a dum comment! Your basically saying to a big 20,000+ plus fans that attend to shut up take what your given or stay away! I for one don't want to see crowds of 12,000,13,000 again!
1

gosblue added 07:17 - Feb 7 Whoever plays we will have a chance because of the strength of our squad. This will seem like a first team selection compared to Mick McCarthy's complete surrender v Man U in the league Cup. As long as we stay in the cup KMcK can keep more of the squad happy. I'm hoping for success but realistically expecting a thumping but I'll still be there. COYB
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Nomore4 added 07:29 - Feb 7 Blues1 learn to type and spell, then I might take you seriously. The last time you attacked me, I made you look stupid. Although you do a good job of that yourself
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BlueMoolay added 08:04 - Feb 7 Totally agree Blues1
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warktheline added 08:20 - Feb 7 Also totally agree blues 1. The ‘fickle boys' lead by Captain Pigeon are in full voice baying for win after win! Shame they weren't so vocal throughout the Evans era! We may have unseated the Trojan Horse' way before he plummeted our club into division 1 mediocrity!
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tractorboybig added 08:36 - Feb 7 well mate you have cocked promotion up so keep the one brain celled happy clappers happy with a pointless cup run.
1

blueboy1981 added 09:01 - Feb 7 warktheline … that's where we are Pigeon - hadn't you noticed ?? - and looking likely to stay under your Messiah. Perhaps it's time you actually went to Portman Road, instead of keep making false claims, and excuses … !!!
0

Michael101 added 09:04 - Feb 7 A win or maybe a penalty shootout loss would be great, just to show what a niny cum poop Mr Sutton is.the BBC are wasting licence payers money on that idiot
0

slobfeatures added 17:13 - Feb 7 What makes everyone think we should be nailed on for promotion? There are other clubs in the hunt who have an equal past pedigree- Sheffield W, Derby, Bolton, Portsmouth, Charlton. Only 3 of these can go up so next season will be the same given 3 equally successful teams may well be relegated. I for one am happy that the quality of football is infinitely better than we've endured over the past decade and should we not go up this season then we battle it out again next time. I've watched this club win the old 1st division seen them during the 70s when they were the best bar Liverpool watched the cup final win and UEFA cup win. But I've also seen some rubbish in my time and this season is definitely not rubbish. It is a vast improvement. Sheffield Wednesday fell away last year as did Portsmouth so if that's our lot this year then we tweak a few things and go again. We will get there but have no divine right. Back then - enjoy the entertainment when it happens and back then the best we can. COYB

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