Following another weekend of magic, Palios told TheFA.com: "The Fourth Round provided great entertainment for football fans everywhere.

"Undoubtedly, Scarborough against Chelsea and Northampton versus Manchester United generated the unique excitement of The FA Cup.

"I believe The FA's decision to prevent clubs switching ties for financial gain has been fully justified, particularly as two of our biggest teams had to travel to lower and non-League opponents' smaller grounds.

"There was an incredible build up to both games with the public in both Scarborough and Northampton enjoying the huge media interest ahead of the fixtures, while the atmospheres at the matches were wonderful.

"The David and Goliath clashes are part of The FA Cup's tradition, so it's important to retain The Cup's proud history by ensuring the ties are played at the home of the club which is drawn out first.

Mark Palios with The FA Cup"While there was obviously disappointment for some of the smaller clubs who lost at the weekend, those who appeared on TV did have the compensation of receiving much needed revenue from The FA.

"I'm sure the clubs were delighted with their £265,000 TV appearance money from The FA. It's very important that we look after our lower league clubs financially and in distributing millions of pounds a year back into football through The FA Cup we can provide much needed support.

"Today's fifth round draw has produced classic ties with Arsenal against Chelsea and Manchester United versus Manchester City or Tottenham particularly standing out."

Meanwhile The FA expressed concerns regarding the attitude of a small number of clubs who have fielded weakened teams in this year's competition. The FA's Director of Communications Colin Gibson said:

"It has not gone unnoticed that some clubs have not fielded anything like their strongest teams this season.

"While it's only a few teams, I would like to emphasise just how important it is for managers to respect the values of The FA Cup and the importance supporters place in it.

"Clubs and managers should also remember that it is the paying public - their fans - who suffer most when they field a weakened team, which is clearly unacceptable.

"We will not be taking any disciplinary action on this occasion, but in future we will be monitoring this area of the game very closely."