Wolverhampton, 24 January 20

Off, then, to Wolverhampton for the FA Cup. The place doesn't smell right. There's nothing remotely resembling Cup fever here, the food is awful and as if in one casual action explaining why the FA Cup has forever exited our hearts, when facing eminently beatable Premiership opposition, home manager Mick McCarthy has elected to field a distinctly second-string team, despite charging distinctly first-rate ticket prices.
`Did Hereford United field a weakened side when Newcastle came to town in February 1972? Did Sutton United... I won't go on, but you get the drift.
Inevitably and reassuringly they get their most just of desserts when Middlesbrough deservedly progress, but it leaves a funny taste in the mouth.
I'm not being overly romantic about the FA Cup, but what's wrong with these people? Wolves hadn't played in midweek and they're hardly in the middle of a fixture glut. Can top-notch, superfit professional footballers such as Michael Kightly and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (substitutes on Saturday) really not manage to play flat-out on a Saturday, Tuesday and then Saturday again? All on beautifully maintained pitches? Of course they can and if the fear is merely fear of injuries, perhaps they shouldn't train either. Or step outside their front door of a morning.
So why does a normally sensible and canny man such as McCarthy behave like this? Tellingly he doesn't greet the press until 6pm, by which time my office has already wondered where my words are and Gareth Southgate - even Gareth Southgate - has been, admitted he was anxious and gone. McCarthy's argument is simple and I believe he believes it: Reading on Tuesday is more important. Therefore why should I risk my players and my job by treating the FA Cup seriously?
It's hard to argue against - Reading is more important so why should he risk anyone? - and the fact that he introduced Kightly and Ebanks-Blake late on suggests he that, despite himself, he did want to progress. But yet, yet, yet, he's completely wrong. If I were a Wolves fan, I'd feel cheated.
And what then? If they do go up, they'll be struggling and then we'll be hearing that a point at Hull is more important than one at Liverpool (which of course it is). So let's save our best players just for games against fellow strugglers, because that's all we need to stay up...