Tonight’s FA Cup ties saw no real shocks other than Birmingham City going down at home to arch rivals Wolves by two goals to nil. Elsewhere Portsmouth overcame a tricky tie at Bristol City coming out winners by two goals and moving on to the next round. Carling Cup hopefuls Burnley march on in yet another cup competition with a 2 – 1 victory over QPR although the game did go into extra time.
Unfortunately it was the end of the road for Histon who went down 2 – 1 to in-form team Swansea City in what many saw as potentially the most difficult tie of the around. West Brom also overcame a potentially difficult time at Peterborough coming out winners by two clear goals and Charlton Athletic finally registered a win with a one goal victory away to Norwich.
Wednesday sees Newcastle United take on fellow premiership battlers Hull City in what could be a very interesting tie but there is no doubt the cameras and the action will be at Southend as they take on struggling premiership team Chelsea. Chelsea boss Scolari has been under intense pressure since Sunday's defeat at Manchester United and many feel that defeat at Southend could mark the end of his short tenure at "the Bridge".
