Five minutes before kick off, a troupe of six or seven year old kids walked across the pitch in front of the Aston Villa fans on their way to forming a guard of honour for the players when they emerged from the tunnel.
The kids looked tiny and cold in the winter gloom but that did not deter the Villa supporters. 'Sign them up, sign them up, sign them up,' they sang. These are desperate times for a grand old club and this was a day made for gallows humour.
Before the game, no one was quite sure whether Villa or Wycombe Wanderers, the League Two team 54 places below them in the league pyramid, should be the underdogs. Villa are a club in freefall and the best their fans could hope for here at Adams Park was a brief distraction from their woes.
Joe Jacobson (left) celebrates with his Wycombe team-mates after scoring against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third-round
Jacobson steps up to score from the penalty spot and draw Wycombe level at 1-1 during the game at Adams Park on Saturday
Villa midfielder Ashley Westwood (top) fouls Wycombe's Bloomfield during the FA Cup third-round to concede a penalty
Villa defender Michah Richards celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Wycombe in the FA Cup third-round
Richards' low shot finds its way through the crowd of Wycombe defenders and into the back of the net on 22 minutes
Wycombe forward Aaron Amadi-Holloway (centre) jumps to control the ball during Saturday's FA Cup game against Villa
Villa defender Jores Okore (left) hassles Wycombe's Sam Wood for the ball during Saturday's game at Adams Park
Villa defender Ciaran Clark (right) slides in with a strong challenge on Holloway during the FA Cup third-round clash
Villa striker Rudy Gestede (centre) fails to direct his header at goal during the first-half of the FA Cup third-round clash at Adams Park
Even when their captain, Micah Richards, opened the scoring for them with a low shot midway through the first-half, the rejoicing was laced with sarcasm. 'We scored a goal,' the Villa fans sang from their places in the Dreams Stand, 'we scored a goal, we scored a goal.'
They probably sensed what was coming. They probably sensed that this team was not good enough or strong enough mentally to hold on to a lead even against a League Two side of limited craft and ambition. They knew an equaliser was coming and early in the second-half, it did.
But then Saturday never held out the promise of being any sort of turning point for Villa. There was no hope that a cup run might provide the catalyst for some sort of great escape in the league, as cup runs sometimes do. The reality is that Villa are too far gone for that. Way too far gone.
This is a team, don't forget, that has only won once in the Premier League all season and is 11 points adrift of safety at the foot of the table.
There is so little hope that it seemed strange to see their beleaguered manager, Remi Garde, resting players. Resting them for what?
Garde is still without a win as Villa manager and he has been in charge for two months. Even victory here would only have provided the flimsiest of sticking plasters.
Villa are a club run by an owner, Randy Lerner, who lost conviction long ago and a chief executive, Tom Fox, who was still seeking solace in shirt sales even last week. Victory at Adams Park would have been a salve but they were not even capable of achieving that.
Villa had flirted with calamity in the early stages when a Wycombe corner led to a game of pinball in their area and home forward Garry Thompson poked the ball just wide.
For the rest of the first half, though Wycombe did not possess the quality to trouble even a side as vulnerable as their visitors.
Gradually, relief spread through the Villa players as they realised this might be a match to bring them some respite from the gloom that has enveloped them.
Scott Sinclair had a shot hacked off the line and Leandro Bacuna, who had attracted unwanted attention last week by posting a rather untimely picture of himself relaxing on a beach, looked increasingly dangerous.
Wycombe's Garry Thompson (left) tussles for possession with Clark during the FA Cup third-round against Aston Villa
Richards, who joined Villa on a free transfer last summer, surges forward with the ball ahead of Wood (right) during Saturday's game
Holloway (right) tricks and jinks his past Villa defender Okore during the FA Cup third-round fixture at Adams Park on Saturday
Villa took the lead after 22 minutes when Carles Gil, one of the few sources of light in the side, bamboozled the Wycombe defence with a series of step-overs.
Gil made space and cut the ball back for Richards who had time to pick his spot and roll a deliberate right foot shot past Wycombe keeper Alex Lynch.
Some suggested Villa might be in shock after scoring but they did not let their control slip for the rest of the half and Wycombe were reduced to feeding off scraps.
Their best chance fell to Aaron Pierre a few minutes before the interval but his header from a corner flew high over the bar.
Wycombe began the second half like a different side though and Villa are so fragile that they could not cope. Wycombe flew at Villa right from the start and within three minutes Ashley Westwood felled Matt Bloomfield with an arm in the box and referee Michael Oliver gave a penalty. Joe Jacobson converted it with aplomb.
Villa reeled. This felt familiar. Wycombe smelled their fear and tore into them.
Sam Wood almost put the home side ahead but Jores Okore headed his volley off the line.
Suddenly, it felt as if Villa had been thrust into another struggle for survival. Adams Park was emboldened. 'Can we play you every week?' the Wycombe supporters sang.
Wycombe could not press home their advantage and Villa began to recover.
Gil continued to provide rare moments of composure and the away fans were dismayed when he was substituted 20 minutes from the end. 'You don't know what you're doing,' they sang at Garde. Discontent is never far from the surface these days.
Villa began to threaten again in the closing stages. Substitute Jordan Ayew drove a shot across goal and just wide and a deflected shot from Rudy Gestede bounced into the ground and up against the angle of post and crossbar.
Villa finished more strongly but they could not force a winner. Wycombe fans celebrated at the final whistle. Villa fans did not. 'You're not fit to wear the shirt,' they sang at their players as they trudged off.
Frenchman Remi Garde took over as Villa manager in November but is yet to oversee a victory since accepting the job
Wycombe's Michael Harriman (centre) struggles to retain possession during the FA Cup third-round clash against Aston Villa
Wycombe midfielder Luke O'Nien (centre) stretches to reach the ball ahead of Villa's Carles Gil (left) during the FA Cup third-round clash
Wycombe manager Gareth Ainsworth shouts instructions to his players as they take on Premier League strugglers Villa at home
Okore (left) vies for the ball alongside Thompson as Villa travel away to Wycombe in the FA Cup third-round on Saturday
Holloway (left) dribbles with the ball ahead of Villa's Okore during Saturday's FA Cup third-round game at Adams Park
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