Villa striker John Carew is likely to make his comeback from injury against Doncaster on Wednesday.

Carew, whose last start came against Slavia Prague on November 6, has been sidelined with a nagging back problem but was included in the squad for the Premier League clash with Wigan.

The Norway international is set to hand Villa a huge boost by playing from the start in the midweek FA Cup fourth round replay.

O’Neill said: “John has said he’s available if selected. He has a really good chance for starting the game against Doncaster. He is feeling a lot, lot better.”

But Freddie Bouma remains some way off a return, despite also playing a half in the behind-closed-doors game with Derby, with the Villa boss admitting “he is still a bit short.”

Looking at the bigger picture, O’Neill insists it will be March before he even begins to consider entertaining talk of a title challenge.

He said: “Unless we win the next five games on the trot, I couldn’t consider us. Then I would say the league is down to 10 games and it would mean we would still be there.

“I think those sides (Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea), including Arsenal, are better than us. They’re looking to see if Arsenal drop some points. They’re not thinking ‘have Villa won again?’”