Carlos Edwards can understand why Ipswich fans might see Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Aston Villa as an opportunity to wreak revenge on Paul Lambert.
The Villa boss can expect a hot reception from the 3,000-plus Town supporters making the trip to the Midlands after he led Norwich to two emphatic East Anglian victories in the Championship two seasons ago.
Edwards, 34, laughed: "I think most of the fans might be travelling just to hammer Lambert but to be fair they will be thinking in terms of revenge.
"From our point of view we are going there to win a game of football and if we do it will rub salt into the wound. We know what we have to do. The fans can hammer Lambert and the players will do their job on the pitch.”
Edwards sees the tie as an opportunity to stage a giant-killing act and believes Villa’s progress to the semi-final of the Capital One Cup, along with their recent Premier League travails, will have no bearing on the outcome.
He added: "We’re not going there looking back at their previous results. They are not in the Premiership by luck, they have quality players. We are not turning up thinking ‘They conceded 15 goals in three recent league defeats’.
"We need to have the mentality of trying to give a good account of ourselves and trying to win the game. That has to be the aim.
"We went to Chelsea two years ago and lost 7-0, which still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I conceded an own goal as well!
"You never want to get spanked at any level. Give praise to Chelsea — they are a top team — but nobody wants to get spanked like that, regardless of who you are playing against.”