IPSWICH Town Ladies will hope to go one better than their male counterparts when they attempt to knock Aston Villa out of the FA Cup, at the third round stage, this Sunday.

The Blues, who sit fourth, with games in hand, in the South East Women’s Combination, host the Midlanders – who are fourth in the Women’s Premier League – hoping to cause a major upset.

The game kicks off at 2pm at Ipswich Wanderers’ ground, on Sunday – admission £2 – and manager Ollie Drake is hoping a big crowd will get behind the team as they look to progress to Round Four.

“For us it’s a big occasion and we will certainly be trying to emulate some of the teams in the men’s games that have been underdogs and have caused upsets,” said Drake.

“But we must not carried away with the occasion and must prepare for the game as normal.

“I have told the girls to set up exactly the same way we would for a league game and it would be unfair to expect them to change at this late stage.”

Drake will be looking to likes of top-scorer Shell Allum, wingers Amy Howlett and Kat Parnell and midfielders, Danielle Bitten and Amanda Everett for attacking inspiration on Sunday.

However, Drake has paid tribute to his entire team, having already seen off AFC Wimbledon and Cambridge in the competition.

“They have all been fantastic,” said Drake.

“The two central midfielders (Bitten and Everett) are very good and are the only players we have in that position really.

“I am not sure how many goals Shell Allum has scored but she has been an important player as have Amy Howlett and Kat Parnell on the wing.

“But the players at the back also have to take a lot of credit and they were especially solid in the last round, in our 1-0 win against Cambridge, where we had to defend really well in the final ten minutes.