Villa drawn at home to Notts County in Capital One Cup

It’s time for us all to pretend we care about the Capital One Cup before, like, the quarter-final again!

Because the second round draw is seeded for this thing, Villa were kept away from other Premier League sides, as well as local rivals Birmingham City and Wolves, so unless Walsall came up, it was bound to be a fairly boring fixture.

But at least there’s some intrigue, as Tim Sherwood’s men have been drawn home against Notts County, the club where Jack Grealish impressed so brilliantly a couple seasons ago on loan.

Notts County were relegated to League Two last term, so this should be a pretty straightforward occasion for even Villa’s second-best side — especially given the recent additions to strengthen the squad. It could give Grealish or Carles Gil a chance to get a comfortable 90 minutes under their belts too, and a home draw is always nice.

Then again, the Claret and Blues were upended at the first chance in the competition a year ago under Paul Lambert, falling to Leyton Orient, who were also relegated from the third tier, because that’s what Villa did under the Scotsman. Hopefully this is a different story.

The ties are scheduled to take place within the next two weeks — Tuesday August 25 is the most likely date, though with all five Birmingham-area clubs home, there’s a good chance Villa will play on the Wednesday instead.