After winning at one of the venues where we rarely triumph in the third round we could have hoped for a much kinder draw, but with the pressure growing on Gerard Houllier and his under-performing side it could just be a good time to face them.
As for the draw itself Ian Rush drew out the home sides, while Steve Guinan became the latest Hereford United player to punish us in the FA Cup by picking us out.
Special mention should go to the BBC’s host Mark Pougatch who asked Rush a series of questions about his former club Liverpool, seemingly having done what many of us would love to be able to do and totally erased the memory of the tachey Welshman’s woeful spell at St James’ Park.
Full fourth round draw:
Manchester City or Leicester v Tottenham Hotspur
Swansea City v Preston or Reading
Northampton or Rotherham v Manchester United
Kidderminster or Wolves v West Ham United
Arsenal v Middlesbrough
Coventry City v Accrington Stanley or Colchester
Ipswich Town v Sunderland
Luton Town v Tranmere or Bolton
Liverpool v Newcastle United
Burnley v Gillingham
Nottingham Forest v Sheffield United
Portsmouth v Barnsley or Scunthorpe
Everton v Fulham
Telford United v Millwall
Southend or Scarborough v Watford or Chelsea
Birmingham City v Wimbledon or Stoke City
Ties to be played the weekend of January 24 and 25.