Robins reaction to Villa cup draw (From Swindon Advertiser)

SWINDON TOWN: Robins reaction to Villa cup draw

6:00am Friday 28th September 2012 in Sport

AFTER Swindon Town were handed a fourth-round tie with Aston Villa in the Capital One Cup, Paolo Di Canio, James Collins and Alan Navarro gave their reactions to the draw.

Di Canio would have preferred a top-five team away from home, Navarro urged focus in the build-up to the tie, while Collins could barely have hoped for a better draw as he takes on the team with whom he came through the ranks.

PAOLO DI CANIO

“With all respect for Aston Villa, it’s a good draw but you know what I hoped for. It would be better to play for me away from home at Old Trafford or Chelsea because it would be a good occasion to play at this stage.

“But Villa is a big, big club and it’s a good opportunity for many of our fans to come and see for the first time this season, I hope, the County Ground full.

“It’s a big club to face and I think the lads and the club deserve to see this ground full.

“We’ve already played against two Premier League sides but Aston Villa is one with a big history and big tradition. I thought we should go to a top, top club but this is one of the biggest clubs in England so I’m happy.”

ALAN NAVARRO

“It’s who we got, it’s the luck of the draw. We’ve got to look at the game when we get there and think we’ve actually got a chance of winning because we’re at home and we’ve knocked a couple of big teams out this year.

“But before then we’ve got a lot of important games and the league’s the most important thing for us at the moment.

“We don’t want to get in the situation where we’re thinking too much about the cup game, it’s all about the league.”

JAMES COLLINS

“When we got to the final 16 and I saw Villa beat Man City I was saying to the boys I’d like Villa away because I’ve got a lot of friends there and it’s my former club, so I’m really happy with the draw.

“It’s not at Villa Park, which would have been nice, but being at home it gives us a chance of beating them.

“I went there at under 14s and was there until just before 21 so I had a long time there and I had a great time there with the youth team and the reserves, we were very successful.

“I think we’ve got a chance to beat anyone, especially at home. They’ll come here, they’ll maybe think as a League One side they won’t have to do much and we’ll catch them by surprise and if we play our football we’re capable of causing an upset.”