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FA Cup

Bristol Rovers v West Brom: Bednar can put this tie to bed

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Brave Bristol Rovers are likely to play their final match of this season's FA Cup campaign on Sunday as WBA come to town, says Richard Walker

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! My Lords, Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you a FA Cup quarter-final tie which both sides really, really want to win. The like of which has not been heard for many a year, ladies and gentlemen, but I assure you the romance of the cup is not dead - not dead I declare!

Enough of the Betfair town crier, you say. Okay, let's get down to some digestible - albeit bite-sized - facts about this otherwise ordinary-looking match-up, which you can nod off to or get terribly excited by, this Sunday evening live on terrestrial television.

For those of you used to a Premiership-laced diet, Rovers versus Albion might seem like a dollop of cold custard on a hardening rice pudding - but, in betting terms, the match has its merits and it's with those profit-making goggles that we'll view the possible outcomes.

Rovers' Memorial Ground pitch is in a right old state, since the surface is shared by both the footballing Pirates and the Guinness Premiership's Bristol Rugby Club. Paul Trollope's League One Gasheads will be well used to dealing with the conditions, Tony Mowbray's footballing artisans from the Championship a little less so.

That said, I can't foresee a Rovers victory and strongly recommend laying the hosts at [4.0]. A risk given they're at home? Sure, but an informed one backed up by Albion's victories on the road in previous rounds: 5-0 at Coventry City and 3-0 at Peterborough United. Despite pushing for the Premiership, Mowbray has taken the FA Cup very seriously. He knows a great run can enhance league form, not affect it adversely.

A Bristolian success tips the betting scales at [3.9] to back with the draw at [3.15] to back. [2.14] are the odds to back a Baggies' win so you might want to back the latter two scenarios if you're not a comfortable layer of stakes.

Rovers have had to summon all their doggedness - which has taken them to within at least a dream of the Play-Off picture in League One - to get through five rounds (and seven ties) so far. Ties against Orient and Fulham both went to replays and were won on shootouts at home. Rushden and Barnet were despatched more simply, then Southampton seen off 1-0 in the west country.

Top scorer Rickie Lambert has 15 in all and six in the FA Cup this term, but it's West Brom's Kevin Phillips who, with 18 goals (one in the cup), will give Albion the edge should he feature. Even without him, as they've often been in the cup this season, Roman Bednar (four in three cup starts), Ishmael Miller (two in two), James Morrison and Zoltan Gera should carry enough goal threat to get the job done.

The Over/Under 2.5 goals is a tough market to call. Overs is backable at [2.12] and I would just lean towards that since the visitors know no other way than to attack and might just run a few goals in if they get ahead. Unders is priced at [1.81] to back, revealing that it's hard to be sure on here.

The value might lie in the Half Time/Full Time market, with Draw/West Brom, at [5.7] to back, and the [3.55] to back about West Brom/West Brom seeming to give enough to make both worth a play. Backing 2-0 Albion at [12.0] and covering with 1-0 Albion at [8.2] might also boost your profits from this tie.

I'm a fan of the underdog, honestly I am, but I just can't see the Albion - having got this far in the competition and with the fillip of a Wembley semi-final appearance lying in wait - not doing anything other than closing the deal. I've mentioned laying Rovers as an insurance against a stolid draw, I admit, but I reckon it'll be job done on Sunday with much boing-boinging on the away terrace.