O’Neill assurance for forgotten duo

Villa boss Martin O’Neill has insisted midfield pair Nigel-Reo-Coker and Steve Sidwell still have futures at the club.

The form of Stiliyan Petrov and Gareth Barry has forced Reo-Coker and Sidwell, who cost Villa a combined £14million, to spend much of the campaign on the bench.

Sidwell – a £5.5million buy from Chelsea last summer – has been plagued by injuries, making just 11 Premier League starts, while Reo-Coker has rarely figured in his preferred central role, instead being used as cover out wide or at right-back.

But O’Neill is adamant both have big parts to play, with Villa’s involvement in the Europa Cup set to make for another gruelling fixture schedule.

The manager said: “I’m sure both will have been glad to see the end of last season and be looking to start afresh again for the new one.

“With Gareth and Stiliyan having done so well this season and us reverting back to a 4-4-2 from three in the middle, it has been tough.

“It’s been stop-start for Steve. He got injured at the start of the campaign, which was ironic as he’s never picked up as many injuries as he has here.

“That’s always debilitating. The last thing players want is to be out for a long time.

“Nigel missed a chunk of the season with a hamstring injury (suffered at Doncaster in January). It’s been frustrating for both of them.

“But we need everyone fit at the football club and we need players to perform at a high level if we are going to keep our position.

“If we qualify for the group stages of the Europa League we will need bodies.”

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This article was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 10:42 am.
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