Aston Villa caretaker boss Scott Marshall has admitted he may consult former manager Paul Lambert ahead of his first game in charge.
The first-team coach, who has temporarily replaced the sacked Lambert, is set to be in control for Sunday's FA Cup visit of Leicester.
Former Arsenal defender Marshall has never managed before and is being assisted by goalkeeping coach Andy Marshall and under-21 boss Gordon Cowans.
Lambert was sacked on Wednesday after just two wins from 21 Premier League games left Villa third from bottom.
The club are understood to favour a long-term appointment with ex-Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood the bookies' favourite.
But Marshall, who is yet to speak to chairman Randy Lerner since taking over, said he would draw on contacts for advice ahead of the fifth round tie and one could be Lambert.
"If I had a conversation and asked him something I'm sure he'd be a positive help," said Marshall. "You can only explain so much to get advice back, but you try and call upon all your experiences before and try to make the best decision going forward. That's what I'm trying to do now.
"I'm pretty sure we'll have another conversation before the game."
Marshall believes Villa need an experienced manager to help them beat the drop, effectively ruling himself out, and admitted the situation of succeeding his friend Lambert, who he also worked with at Norwich, has been tough.
"I wouldn't say comfortable. It's not something I wanted in any shape or form, my respect for the boss is there," he said.
"He's given me some good opportunities at Norwich and here. This is new to me. Maybe sometime in the future maybe I'll be a better coach for it.
"It's a big job, the boss (Lambert) will tell you that. It'll be a big challenge for somebody."
He has skipper Ron Vlaar available after a knee injury and may recall Christian Benteke after he started the last two games on the bench.
"I thought Christian looked better when he came off the bench against Hull, we had that conversation after the game and the determination is there. We'll take it from there," added Marshall.
"We're still a couple of days away. We've not really made any decisions yet. I've got a few ideas in my head and we're going to pick a team to try to win the game."