Martin O’Neill has at last got his Villa stars sweating over their selection as they prepare to take on Middlesbrough at Villa Park.
The UEFA Cup victory at Slavia Prague came with a team showing six changes to what had become O’Neill’s Premier League regulars, giving him food for thought in the build up to the clash.
O’Neill rested first-choice regulars Brad Friedel, Luke Young, Martin Laursen, Gareth Barry and Nigel Reo-Coker - and the fringe crew rewarded him with both a memorable performance and result in the Czech capital.
Now O’Neill knows he has genuine competition for places and will have some tough decisions to make after the performances of stand-ins Brad Guzan, Zat Knight, Curtis Davies, Craig Gardner, Moustapha Salifou and Steve Sidwell.
He said: “The performances in Prague have certainly given me food for thought. No question about that.
“If we are ever going to be good enough to challenge the leading clubs, then we have to have the squad and have the ability to rotate and know you are not making the side weaker.
“I said I would make changes against Prague, but it is always a bit of a risk. I wanted to freshen things up in the team and I wanted the players coming in to be involved in a very important game.
“It was a gamble, but I thought the players played exceptionally well. There is an art in it only if you win games.
“I could not be more pleased. This is what I wanted, a little bit of competition for places. In two seasons here at Villa this is something that we’ve not been able to achieve.
“At the moment we do not have it to the level of the sides we are trying to compete against. But overall it is very encouraging.
“It could have backfired but I thought in midfield Salifou, Sidwell and Gardner could give us a freshness but would tire in the second half which is exactly what happened in the game. Their overall contribution was excellent.”
Guzan, standing in for for fellow American Friedel in goal, is a strong challenger to be retained while there will be a midfield vacancy, because Stiliyan Petrov is injured.
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