Aston Villa will be hoping to take the confidence gained from successive Midlands derby wins into their crunch Premier League clash with Sunderland on Saturday.
Tim Sherwood's team beat local rivals West Bromwich Albion twice last week to firstly climb out of the relegation zone and then advance to the FA Cup semi-finals.
Pitch invasions either side of the final whistle last weekend marred the 2-0 Cup victory, which came courtesy of second-half goals from Fabian Delph and Scott Sinclair.
Three people have been charged by the police in relation to the crowd trouble, described as "very scary" and "disgraceful" by Delph and Albion boss Tony Pulis respectively.
As ugly as the scenes were, they were a demonstration of the passion and belief that two such results can provoke into what was previously a rather flat Villa Park atmosphere.
Sherwood has refused to concern himself with the behaviour of those supporters, but has admitted that his squad are feeling buoyant ahead of their trip to the Stadium of Light.
The Sunderland faithful, though, have had little to shout about all season and defeat for them on Wearside would see them leapfrogged by Villa and fall to 17th in the table.
While their opponents have been celebrating booking a Wembley date, Sunderland have been dealing with the aftermath of Adam Johnson's arrest on suspicion of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16.
The former England winger has been suspended by the club pending the result of a police investigation and remains unavailable, although the Black Cats fans were not shy in chanting his name during the 1-1 draw with Hull City.
Jack Rodwell's goal upon his return to the team rescued Sunderland a point against their relegation rivals in their last outing, but Gus Poyet's side remain winless in five games and have only tasted one league victory in 2015.
Having Rodwell back will help compensate for the loss of Lee Cattermole to suspension. The combative midfielder has become the second player this season, after former teammate Jack Colback, to accrue 10 yellow cards.
Jordi Gomez is the most likely option to replace him in Sunderland's midfield diamond, while Connor Wickham is also in line for a recall as Poyet struggles to find the best foil for Jermain Defoe in his two-man attack.
Villa could name much the same side that they did in their most recent derby victory, although key players Christian Benteke and Ron Vlaar may both be in the reckoning dependent on the results of their late fitness tests.
Should Benteke be fit to return from a hip problem, one of Tom Cleverley or Ashley Westwood would probably be sacrificed to allow the switch to a 4-4-2 system. Brad Guzan will be restored after Shay Given kept goal in the Cup.
The defence is likely to be unchanged with Aly Cissokho, Kieran Richardson, Philippe Senderos and Nathan Baker all injured and Alan Hutton suspended. Jack Grealish is also banned after his simulation-induced sending-off.
December's reverse fixture between the division's draw specialists and lowest scorers ended 0-0. Villa are unbeaten in seven games against Sunderland and have won three times away this season despite only scoring four goals.
Sunderland:
Form in Premier League: WDLDLD
Form in all competitions: DLLDLD
Possible starting lineup: Pantilimon; Vergini, O'Shea, Brown, Reveillere; Bridcutt, Larsson, Rodwell, Gomez; Wickham, Defoe
Villa:
Form in Premier League: LLLLLW
Form in all competitions: LWLLWW
Possible starting lineup: Guzan; Bacuna, Okore, Clark, Lowton; N'Zogbia, Westwood, Delph, Sinclair; Agbonlahor, Benteke
Sports Mole says: 0-1
Joe Fish
