Burnley suffer in build-up to game's oldest derby

Forty-eight hours after Jose Mourinho's bizarre touchline performance in the Carling Cup final, attention will again be directed away from the pitch when Blackburn Rovers and Burnley settle their FA Cup fifth round replay at Ewood Park tonight.

Forty-eight hours after Jose Mourinho's bizarre touchline performance in the Carling Cup final, attention will again be directed away from the pitch when Blackburn Rovers and Burnley settle their FA Cup fifth round replay at Ewood Park tonight.

Football's oldest derby reconvenes nine days after a fractious encounter at Turf Moor that confirmed the enduring intensity of the rivalry. Three pitch invasions marred the occasion and there was little in a drab 0-0 draw to distract from the unsavoury atmosphere.

That this is a meeting between east Lancashire's haves and have-nots has been demonstrated in the build-up to this replay. Benefiting from a weekend free of Premiership action, Hughes took his players to Dubai. His opposite number, Steve Cotterill, meanwhile, has dragged his threadbare squad on away trips to Derby and Preston and yesterday took his players to a swimming pool in an attempt to prepare their tired limbs for another 90 minutes.

With Frank Sinclair, Micah Hyde and John McGreal doubtful, Cotterill may again have to fill his substitutes' bench with untried youngsters and the player-coach, Mark Yates. By contrast, Hughes expects Paul Dickov to return although he will be without the suspended Andy Todd.