Aston Villa's decision to force Oxford United to switch the date of their Worthington Cup third round tie to the Wednesday night, November 6, shows the clout of the Premiership.

The change, from United's normal midweek match night of Tuesday, has been causing officials at The Kassam Stadium sleepless nights because the conference and restaurant areas of the stadium had already been booked out on the Wednesday for a major computer software exhibition.

But Villa invoked the Premiership rules which decree that Saturday matches should be switched to a Sunday when a club is involved in a UEFA Cup match the previous Thursday, and that Tuesday matches can be moved to a Wednesday when a club has played the previous Sunday.

It was, therefore, a sequ- ence of events which forced the alteration. Blackburn qualified for the second round of the UEFA Cup and although they were paired with Celtic, meaning only a short trip to Glasgow on the Thursday, they invoked the rule to change their game with Villa to the Sunday.

And Villa then decided to press for their Worthington Cup tie at Oxford to be on the Wednesday. Had United been drawn to play a Nationwide League first division team, who had already got a match scheduled for the previous Sunday, they would not have had to move. But the Premiership rules, OK?

However, United secretary Mick Brown did not see it as bullying tactics, and said the Nationwide League clubs have to be accommodating if they want the Premier League clubs to treat the competition seriously.

"It was always going to be the case that Villa's match with Blackburn would have to be moved to the Sunday," he said.

"Although we made representations to Aston Villa that it would be, and will be, very difficult for us to play them on the Wednesday because of this exhibition in the stadium, they pointed out that it was in the rules.

"All this has been done to assist English clubs in Europe and we all want to support them and give them the best chance they can in European competition.

"And we can't have it both ways. This is the Football League's premier cup compeition and if we in the Football League want Premier League clubs to take the competition seriously we have to go along, to an extent, with the dates that are suitable to them."