Football
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England's Roy Hodgson believes scrapped FA Cup replays a good step

England manager Roy Hodgson believes the scrapping of FA Cup quarterfinal replays could be the first step to a winter break in the Premier League.

In a move approved by the FA board on Thursday, the last-eight stage of the cup competition will revert to a sudden-death format over one weekend in a bid to ease English football's congested fixture list.

And while there was no mention of any further initiatives in the official announcement, Hodgson thinks it could help break down opposition to the kind of hiatus enjoyed by the rest of continental Europe's top leagues.

Several of Hodgson's predecessors have looked on enviously at players in the likes of France, Italy, Spain and Germany being awarded a rest period while English teams up the ante over the festive period, but the tradition has proved hard to shift.

Reacting to the news, Hodgson said: "I think it's is all designed eventually -- in very good discussions which are now going on between the Premier League and the FA -- to maybe providing that elusive winter break that so many people have talked about for such a long period of time.

"There's been no doubt that one of the stumbling blocks has often been 'hold on, you have all of these replays and you're asking us to cut our season down?'

"I think it's only positive that this sort of move has been made. There's no doubt that these replays have often been one of the stumbling blocks to people who have suggested 'can't we get a couple of weeks off in the winter to just freshen up our minds a bit?' It's nothing to do with anything other than freshening minds up.''

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