On 15 April 2014, Given was appointed temporary assistant to Paul Lambert after the club suspended Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa, pending an internal investigation for an undisclosed reason. Given played in all of Aston Villa's 2014–15 FA Cup fixtures that led to an appearance in the 2015 FA Cup Final at the age of 39, which Villa lost 4–0 to Arsenal. The Cup run began with a 1–0 victory over Blackpool, and continued with 2–1 victories over both Bournemouth and Leicester City, and a 2–0 win over derby rivals West Bromwich Albion. In the semi-final, Villa came from a goal down to defeat Liverpool 2–1, putting the club in their first FA Cup final since 2000.