Cardiff City v Preston North End: How to watch Sunday's FA Cup clash on S4C

It is the first time the two Championship rivals have met in the FA Cup and sadly the clash at the Cardiff City Stadium will be played behind closed doors.

That is because of restrictions put on mass gatherings by the Welsh Government in a bid to curb the rapid spread of Covid variant Omicron.

Is the game being televised?

It is being shown live across the UK on free-to-air television by Welsh broadcaster, S4C.

The match kicks off at 2pm, with S4C’s coverage getting underway at 1.45pm.

Our friends at S4C have provided lots of information about how to access their channel.

S4C is a Welsh language broadcaster, but fans will be also able to watch the match with English language commentary, provided by former Wales international, Joe Ledley, via the red button service.

Outside of Wales, S4C is available on the following channels: Sky 134, Freesat 120 and Virgin TV 166.

The match will also be available to watch on S4C’s on demand player, S4C Clic, which is available on any smart device or computer, by going to www.s4c.cymru/clic, or by downloading the S4C Clic App; from App Store on an Apple device, or Google Play on an Android device.

Fans watching the match on Sky, Freeview, Virgin or Freesat can access English language commentary simply by pressing the red button.

For Sky Q users, the process is different. To access English language commentary, press the home button, go to ‘settings’, press the right arrow, then set up, preferences, audio language and change it to "Welsh". Once you have done this, the English commentary will kick in automatically every time it’s available in the future.

English language commentary is also available for those watching on S4C Clic.

Who is the referee?

Simon Hooper is the man with the whistle on Sunday afternoon. The Wiltshire-based official referees in the Premier League, his latest top-flight game being Crystal Palace's 2-2 draw with Southampton on December 15.

Mr Hooper was in charge of PNE's 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest in November.

Lee Venamore and Mark Pottage are the assistant referees for the game, with Sam Allison the fourth official.

Will the game be settled on the day?

If the game ends in a draw after 90 minutes, there will be 30 minutes extra time and then penalties if needed.

Replays in the third and fourth round of this season's competition have been scrapped because of the Covid wave and the need to use replay dates to reschedule league games which have been postponed.

How many substitutes can teams use in the FA Cup?

Teams can name nine substitutes and use five of them. In Championship games, seven subs are allowed on the team sheet with three permitted to be used.

The last meeting?

Preston and Cardiff last met on November 20 in the Championship at Deepdale.

Sean Maguire gave PNE a first-half lead but Mark McGuiness and James Collins struck after the interval to give the Bluebirds a 2-1 victory.

A good memory of the Cardiff City Stadium?

On December 29, 2017, PNE won 1-0 against Cardiff in a televised Friday night game.

Tom Clarke popped up with a 90th minute winner on a freezing cold night.