Rovers earn Villa replay

For an hour manager Martin O'Neill's side looked anything but a top-four Premier League outfit, and when they did they found a man one month short of his 39th birthday in outstanding form.

Sullivan was beaten once, with Gabriel Agbonlahor striking the crossbar, although Villa were also indebted to the woodwork as Martin Woods was twice denied.

It was one of those typically uncomfortable FA Cup afternoons for a top-flight side as Villa struggled to find any rhythm or tempo.

Rovers exuded the air of a confident side that had won four and drawn one of their previous five games coming into one of their biggest matches of the last 25 years.

Despite fielding a full-strength side, with the exception of Ashley Young starting a three-match suspension following his straight red card dismissal in last Saturday's 2-1 win at Sunderland, O'Neill's team often mis-fired.

Ten minutes before the break, Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel found himself beaten by a dipping strike from Woods the American was relieved to see clip the top of his crossbar and drop to safety.

Such an opportunity had curtailed a 10-minute spell of dominance from Villa, who finally offered a degree of substance to their top-flight style. The highlight of which saw Sullivan prove he has lost none of his spring or agility with a fine fingertip stop to deny Agbonlahor from six yards.

After twice denying James Milner in a matter of minutes either side of the hour-mark, former Scotland international Sullivan pulled off his save of the game to tip away the towering Zat Knight's downward header.

After the heroics from Sullivan came the villainy from Villa as Milner and Steve Sidwell both missed the target with free headers when they should have at least put Sullivan under more pressure. And after one more sterling stop from Sullivan to deny Craig Gardner, he duly earned the man-of-the-match award and Rovers their night out at Villa Park.