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FA Cup

Sheffield United v Middlesbrough: Tight affair predicted at Bramall Lane

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Richard Walker is not convinced by the new manager back bet!

Bryan Robson comes up against his former club on Sunday when...oh, hang on a minute, he's been sacked!

Well, that's all you need to know isn't it? First game in charge for new manager equals victory; put your life savings on backing Sheffield United at home against Middlesbrough at [3.35] and all home in time for tea. Lovely.

Would that it were that simple, eh? Certainly you can't argue with the value of that price since the suspicion is that there'll be a sense of relief among Bladesmen at Bramall Lane. Such was the unpopularity of Robson that in his final week the good folk of Sheffield waited in the car park for the 50-year-old to vent their frustrations. Nice abuse if you can get it.

Twenty-twenty hindsight tells us it was an impossible job following Neil Warnock into the Blades' hotseat, but Robson did make a pig's ear of it. United are 16th, seven points off the relegation zone (and, because it's the Championship, only nine off the Play-Off zone looking the other way!).

Of course, the former Manchester United legend didn't have the spending power of, say, a Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough - who are [2.4] to back, by the way - to assist him, and has found his £4m star striker James Beattie injured since mid-December.

Contrast £4m with the £12m Boro just doled out to Dutch Eredivisie high-fliers Heerenveen for hitman Afonso Alves and you have the difference in a nutshell, parachute payments or no parachute payments. If you're in the Premiership you can do that, if you're not you can't.

Middlesbrough, now happily entrenched in the calming mid-table waters of Premiership life, will be taking this competition seriously since it's the only thing they've got left to play for. So expect no resting or rotation from Boro's fledgling manager. He'll want to make his mark - and the FA Cup is still prized by those with no European aspirations as the one realistic goal for any campaign. This fact should be in your mind when you size up the opportunities on offer.

So, with Kevin Blackwell - Warnock's assistant when at the Blades - installed until the season's end, United will get on with what they do best: cup ties. Of all non-Premiership clubs, it's their exploits more than most which have in recent years caught the eye. FA Cup semi-finals, League Cup semi-finals; they've got it on an impressive knock-out CV.

And this was just the sort of tie Warnock would have relished, and probably entreated the Bramall Lane faithful to help get his side through. They're a bit wary right now, though, and I suggest that sense of unease will prevail over the mandatory 'new manager wins first game rule'. However I'm not absolutely fixed on a Boro win so laying Sheffield United at [3.45] would, for me, be the value choice. Backers might prefer the [3.35] on offer for the draw and, I must concede, that too is tempting.

Whichever you choose, instinct tells me Southgate's men - unbeaten in seven now - should have too much for the battling Blades. Middlesbrough got the job done at lowly Mansfield Town on telly in the last round, a routine 2-0 win on a pudding of a pitch being just the sort of earthy experience to serve them well come this tie. Not a side involved in too many thrillers, their cautious approach leads me to believe that backing Under at [1.81] in the Over/Under 2.5 goals market is the logical next step.

The Correct Score market makes interesting reading and always provides some value options. Following the train thought that this is unlikely to be a goal fest (Alves or no Alves in the Boro line-up), one-all - available to back at [7.2] - makes most appeal, while a Boro 1-0 win, that's [8.6] to back, would also seem to represent decent value at the odds.