Two of the country's most impressive young managers, Everton's Moyes and Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill, will go head to head in the battle for a quarter-final berth at Goodison Park on Sunday.

It will be a welcome release for both from the stark reality of survival as a manager in the top flight, in a week that has seen Tony Adams sacked at Portsmouth, Luiz Felipe Scolari axed at Chelsea and Newcastle's Joe Kinnear in hospital for heart surgery.

Moyes insists he is fortunate to have patient employers at Everton, and said: "If someone (Scolari) comes to this country having won the World Cup, and manages one of the top two or three clubs and you still get sacked, it can happen to anybody.

"The Premier League is cut-throat. You have seen that very clearly this week with what has happened to managers at Portsmouth and Chelsea.

"It comes every year, people get sacked because of how competitive the Premier League is and how difficult it is to win games.

"There is no hiding place, that is why I am fortunate with a good chairman and good board who back me. It has been good times at Everton and everybody here has been very fortunate.

"What has happened to Joe Kinnear this week shows what pressure we managers are under. I have sent him a message hoping he gets well quickly.

"We compete against each other week in week out. But there is an understanding between us of the job we have to do, whether we have money or we don't have money.

"Top or bottom there is still a similarity in the job. And we always look after our own, I just hope Joe gets fit again very quickly."

He added: "It is also interesting to see the problems Chelsea are having. They are having to pull back and sell before they can buy.

"There has been a distortion in the market with some of the wages that have been paid, not only at the top but also by mid-table teams."

And Moyes joked: "If the man at Chelsea is skint, then we are all struggling!"

Moyes and O'Neill are two managers with support and understanding from board level, and a desire to use British players.

Moyes said: "Both clubs have British managers and a lot of British players, we both see the game that way. But the difference is the amount of money Villa have had to spend this season, far more than us.

"They have got vastly more than us and far more money at their disposal."

The tie is a re-run of a sensational league match at Goodison in December when Villa came back dramatically in injury-time to win 3-2, seconds after Everton felt they had done enough for a point with a late, late equaliser.

Since then Everton have lost just one of 12 in a dramatic response to a result that would have broken many teams.

Moyes said: "The way we lost in the league here to them is still in my memory. It was hard to take the way it happened with the scoring again after we had equalised deep into injury-time.

"We have all moved on. We have done really well since then and so have Villa. That is why this is tough to call.

"It is a special competition, but not as special as the Premier League. The majority of managers would probably agree with that.

"But we have not had much of a run in the cup over the years so I want to have a run this time.

"It will always be very difficult to win the Premier League at this time, so the cup has become a realistic opportunity for us. So it would be good to give Everton fans something to shout about."

Everton will be without the cup-tied Jo, on loan from Manchester City, while record signing Marouane Fellaini is also out with a damaged back, a small crack in a bone now expected to keep him out for three weeks.

The club are hoping that striker Louis Saha, out since November with a hamstring problem, will be able to return on the bench. Steven Pienaar, out for a fortnight with a similar injury, is also serving a ban following five bookings.

Moyes confirmed that Victor Anichebe, the young striker he fell out with after training ground row recently, is fit but he would not discuss whether the youngster is in line for a recall.

Everton also hope that Tim Cahill and Tim Howard do not suffer any after-effects from midweek internationals in Japan and the USA respectively.

Cahill helped Australia to a 0-0 draw against the Japanese, while keeper Howard played in the 2-0 win over Mexico for the Americans. The pair only arrived back at the club today.