Robson to edge clash of the great warriors

Bryan Robson and Paul Ince, two of the modern game's surpreme competitors, are unlikely to entertain thoughts of sacrificing progress in knockout competition for success in the league despite the considerable pressure both are under to deliver promotion.

Robson, whose Sheffield United side travel south hoping to avoid the same fate that befell neighbours Barnsley at the same stage of the tournament last season, will nevertheless regard this evening's game as a golden opportunity to advance a step closer towards the piece of silverware that would secure his legacy just three months after taking charge at Bramall Lane.

MK Dons' sparkling new stadium, indeed their very existence, is a monument to the triumph of business over sport, but Ince's presence at the helm should convince even the most bombastic of United supporters that the League Two club boast substance as well as style.

Robson's respect for his former England colleague is underlined by the fact that during his tenure at Middlesbrough he spent 1 million recruiting Ince the player.

"I don't know too much about MK Dons," Robson admitted, "We've had them watched but I hadn't had a chance to watch the videos because I was planning for our last game.

"But the one thing I do know is that, with Incey in charge, they'll be determined and they'll fight hard so we'll have to be careful of that.

"Both of us will want to win - I certainly don't like to lose. Although there'll be one or two changes, that's only because I think we've got a very strong squad."

Nevertheless, the superior options Robson will have at his disposal should prove too much for opponents who, like the visitors, have endured a chequered start to the new campaign.

While United were beating West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, MK Dons were celebrating a 3-0 triumph over Shrewsbury Town - a result which followed an opening-day home defeat by Bury and a draw at Macclesfield.

Robson will make changes - James Beattie heads the big names unlikely to feature - but Jon Stead, Danny Webber, Geoff Horsfield and Alan Quinn could all start.

Ince, part of the Wolves side which swept United aside in the 2003 Division One Play-Off final, will not be the only familar face onthe MK Dons' roster, Jon Paul McGovern and Leon Knight having settled there after severing their ties with the Steel City.

Ince may have fond memories of United, but he shares bad ones with Robson following England's penalty exit against Germany in the semi-finals of Euro 96.

"I said to Bryan Robson (then Terry Venables' assistant) 'I'll take one' and he replied 'okay, you're sixth'," Ince recalled recently. "I said 'sixth, whose fifth then?' and he told me Gareth Southgate, so if he'd have scored I'd have taken the next one."