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England: Banana skins ready as top clubs enter League Cup [Mon Sep 19th, 2005]
London (Reuters) - Third division leaders Grimsby Town get a rare moment in the spotlight this week when the League Cup second round brings Tottenham Hotspur to Blundell Park.
Tuesday's game is one of a dozen involving Premier League clubs, one or two of whom usually make an embarrassing exit from this stage of their least-liked competition.
Struggling Sunderland are at home to third division Cheltenham Town, Aston Villa travel to Wycombe Wanderers and high-flying Charlton Athletic are at home to Hartlepool.
Grimsby will be counting on the form which has given them six wins from their last seven games -- and a weakened Spurs side -- to give them a chance of an upset.
Spurs boss Martin Jol watched his side toil for the opening 45 minutes of Saturday's 1-1 draw at Villa and is likely to give some of his second-string players an outing on the east coast.
Though the Dutchman has quality in depth to brush aside a team playing one division above the semi-professionals, there is a tricky decision in store for Sunderland's Mick McCarthy.
His team are desperate for a resounding victory, having been denied by West Bromwich Albion's stoppage-time equaliser at the weekend after a run of 20 defeats in the top flight.
The temptation will be to use several of his first-team regulars to guarantee a win against a Cheltenham side who slumped to a 3-2 defeat at home to Carlisle after taking the lead.
"This is the lowest point of the season so far," lamented Cheltenham manager John Ward. "But we will find answers to it."
The mood was little different from McCarthy's after his team's heartbreaking draw.
"My mother told me there would be days like these," he said. "She didn't tell me when and she didn't how many."
Villa, who were knocked out of both cup competitions by lower division opponents last season, can at least point to an improvement against Spurs after their 4-0 mauling by West Ham.
Wycombe, who famously reached the FA Cup semi-finals under former boss Lawrie Sanchez in 2001, are now languishing in the third division and should offer little resistance.
Elsewhere, Birmingham City travel to Scunthorpe, West Ham United are away to Sheffield Wednesday and Stuart Pearce's Manchester City visit Doncaster Rovers on Wednesday.
The eight Premier League clubs who qualified for European competition, led by cup holders Chelsea, will join in from the third round in late October.
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