Ian Ross, Aston Villa’s skipper, is convinced that he will be leading out the side at Wembley on March 1 for the League Cup final.

Ross, who watched Villa’s semi-final opponents Chester knock Newcastle out of the cup on Wednesday, said last night “Villa versus Manchester United would be a magnificent final.

”I know we have to beat Chester over two legs, but I feel that this is to be Villa’s season.

”I think I witnessed Chester playing at their best last night and there was nothing I saw which should make us afraid.

”The game was a bit physical, but we are used to playing sides that run and fight like Chester. I believe we will win on their ground in the first leg and then really sew it up when they come to Villa Park.

Ross added: “I am being super-optimistic. But we are used to playing on compact grounds like Chester’s. Remember we have already played on two Fourth Division grounds this season - Crewe and Hartlepool - and also at Third Division Colchester.

”And I really hope that Manchester United will win through to play us in the final. They won’t find it easy though, because Norwich are a good side.”

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*Birmingham Daily Post*
Monday, 23 December 1974

Villa face another waiting game By RANDALL NORTHAM

By the end the difference between the teams was as definite as the scoreline: clear enough to suggest that Albion are capable of promotion while Villa could have to wait another season.

But if Albion are to go up they will need a goalscorer and quickly. Not many teams will present them with a gift goal after only ten minutes, as Jim Cumbes did on Saturday.

How much the difference depended upon Cumbes’s blunder was arguable but it was not until the 66th minute that Joe Mayo scored the second.

Certainly Cumbes, transferred from Albion to Villa, which must have doubled his agony, was affected by the slip as previously Villa had appeared calm and watchful in a maelstrom start to this local derby, made all the more tense by the teams’ positions In the Second Division.

But by the end there could be no arguing against Albion’s right to be victorious. They were quicker, more efficient and more determined. The way one or two heads dropped at the end will alarm Ron Saunders.

It was not much of a spectacle. The crowed sustained it in the first half but in the second, when the pace dropped, they became relatively silent.

Albion’s pattern, although never clearly established, remained much the same throughout but Villa instead of improving after the break, as they had to do if they were to win, grew worse.

One of the main reasons for Albion’s superiority was that Villa’s Brian Little, who had scored four goals in his previous six games, was hardly allowed a kick by David Rushbury, Albion’s 18- year-old-old sweeper playing only his tenth game.

Billy Wright, the former Wolves and England captain who should know something about central defending (although they didn’t call it that in his day) claims that Rushbury is the “best young number six I have seen.”

Ken Roberts, the manager of Chester, watching Villa, his club’s League Cup semi-final opponents, added: “Rushbury was the best player on the field.”

Many youngsters shine brighter than they should when they start because their good points are over-emphasised and their faults overlooked but Rushbury appears to have no faults other than his lack of height and his slight physique.

His captain and co-defender John Wile reckons that he is a better player at 18 than Colin Todd was, and Wile’s right to say that is undeniable; he played in the same Sunderland youth team as Todd.

One moment when Rushbury’s promise was crystallised came in the 40th minute, when John Osborne had to make his only save, he blocked Bobby Campbell’s shot and Rushbury, instead of panicking and blasting it anywhere, carefully played it from his own six yard area to Len Cantello on the edge of the penalty area. With Gordon Nisbet also outstanding Villa never seemed likely to score.

At the other end, Mayo gave Chris Nicholl his most uncomfortable afternoon for months and Willie Johnston’s sparkle - it was his cross that Cumbes dropped although the Scottish winger can claim no credit for it - was marred only but his unfortunate habit of making unnecessary uncomplimentary gestures.

It is a habit Don Howe ought to stem out - Johnston loses too much time and money to suspensions already.