[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Cyrille Regis shoots for goal at Ice Station Hawthorns, Albion vs Bristol City, 1st January 1979

With our threadbare squad and the undignified way we managed to exit both this season's League Cup and last year's FA Cup (yes, and all the others before them), I can't be the only one wondering just how seriously we're going to be taking the grand old competition this time round.  Will it be another case of going through the motions?  Or is 2016 finally the year we'll get to see Victor Anichebe fire the winner into the top corner at Wembley and end nearly fifty years of hurt?

Bristol City is, as draws go, one of the more favourable we could have asked for; they've got a relegation battle to worry about, and have been prone to some real hammerings on their travels recently.  The glimmer of hope for them is that they're likely to be facing a very makeshift Albion side, albeit one which might have a big gun or two on the bench for an emergency.  The upset is possible, as always, but you feel it would take a particularly poor showing from Albion to make it happen.

What say we go traditional and freeze the pitch overnight just to make sure?