Northern Ireland winger Shane Ferguson will be eagerly anticipating this evening’s fifth round FA Cup draw after Millwall eliminated Premier League Everton from the competition at the weekend.
The 27-year-old, whose left-footed deliveries from set-pieces caused Marco Silva’s team problems throughout the game, helped the Lions progress to the fifth round for the fourth time in the last eight seasons.
Joining Ferguson in round five will be international colleague Craig Cathcart whose Watford side defeated fellow Premier League outfit Newcastle United 2-0 at St James’ Park.
Elsewhere in the competition, the midfield duo of George Saville and Paddy McNair face a replay at Newport Count after the Welsh outfit held Middlesbrough to a 1-1 draw at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.
On-loan forward Paul Smyth made his debut for Accrington Stanley after coming off the bench for the final six minutes of their 1-0 defeat to Frank Lampard’s Derby County in the televised tie at the Wham Stadium.
The 21-year-old, who is on loan at John Coleman’s side from QPR, made a real impact during his brief spell on the pitch and was clean through on goal in the final minute only to be hauled down just outside the box.
In the Championship, Bailey Peacock-Farrell was replaced in goal by Leeds United’s new signing from Real Madrid Kiko Casilla in their 2-1 Yorkshire derby victory at Rotherham United.
Striker Will Grigg, who has been the subject of a number of unsuccessful transfer bids from League One Sunderland, missed Wigan Athletic’s 3-1 defeat at Martin O’Neill’s Nottingham Forest due to an ankle injury.
“I think Sunderland have made four bids for Will,” said Latics boss Paul Cook. “But the fact we’ve rebuffed four bids, you can clearly see our intent is not to sell players.
“Unfortunately, everybody is expecting them to come back, but we want to strengthen and keep our better players.”
“Will’s such a good lad, mentally strong,” added Cook, “but I’m sure the speculation won’t be good for him and his family.
“The natural thing is for him to be wondering whether the club wants to sell him or not.”
Meanwhile, right-back Ryan McLaughlin made his first appearance for Rochdale following his move from Blackpool last week.
The 24-year-old, one of four Northern Ireland players in the Dale starting line-up on Saturday, was however substituted in the 76thminute of his new employer’s 2-1 reverse at Barnsley.
“Ryan ran out of steam,” explained Rochdale boss Keith Hill. “He hasn’t played for a long while, so he’s got to get fitter. His energy levels were down and we didn’t want to run him into an injury.”
On the goalscoring front, former Northern Ireland under-21 striker Mikhail Kennedy found the net as Chelmsford City won 3-1 at Dulwich Hamlet in National League South.
Kennedy is currently on loan at the club from Charlton Athletic until the end of the season.
Finally, Crystal Palace goalkeeper Ollie Webber made his debut for Greenwich Borough at the weekend after joining the Isthmian League club on-loan from the south-London side until the end of the current campaign.