There will be an unfamiliar face in the Aston Villa dugout when Liverpool travel to Villa Park for their FA Cup third round clash on Friday night.
With a significant number of the Villans' first team squad and coaching staff testing positive for Covid-19, Under-23s coach Mark Delaney will manage a team of youngsters against Jurgen Klopp 's Premier League champions after it was confirmed the tie would still go ahead
Fans of a certain age might recall Delaney from his nondescript playing days, with the Wales international making 193 appearances during a nine-year stint with Villa before hanging up his boots in 2007.
But despite having no links to Liverpool at all during his playing career, having only turned out for Carmarthen Town and Cardiff City prior to his move to Villa Park, the former full-back is actually a match-winner for the Reds.
In January 2004, Gerard Houllier's Liverpool claimed a 1-0 victory over David O'Leary's Aston Villa in an unspectacular match which is best-remembered by the record books for goalkeeper Paul Jones becoming the Reds' oldest debutant since World War II, after the then-36-year-old joined on loan from Southampton following injuries to Jerzy Dudek and Chris Kirkland.
And Delaney who scored the winner for Liverpool that day, unknowingly turning past his own goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen after Emile Heskey's header inadvertently deflected off his shin when the striker connected with a Harry Kewell cross.
You'd be a brave man to bet against Delaney again tasting defeat against the Reds on Friday night as he returns to the spotlight.
But for the Welshman, the performance rather than the result will be the most important thing as he prepares a number of Aston Villa starlets for the biggest night of their careers.
