Full steam ahead into Europa League for Aston Villa
Aug 19 2009 by Lisa Smith, Birmingham Post
Martin O’Neill has announced a full-strength squad for tomorrow’s trip to Austria as Aston Villa bid to make amends for last year’s mayhem in Moscow.
Among the players boarding the flight to Vienna will be Norwegian striker John Carew who has passed a fitness test on the infected toe which kept him out of Saturday’s Barclays Premier League defeat to Wigan Athletic.
Manager O’Neill’s troops kick-start their Europa League campaign against Rapid Vienna at the Hanappi Stadium tomorrow evening knowing a win is vital if they are to ensure qualification in the competition over two legs.
O’Neill is aware supporters will accept nothing but victory in the competition after the club bombed out in the latter stages last year following the decision to take a team of reserve players and youngsters to the tie against Zilina in Russia, leaving the senior players to concentrate on the domestic league.
Villa, at the time, looked set to clinch fourth place in the Premier League but went on to crash out of European competition and then lost their way in the top flight, finishing well off the pace in the race for Champions League places at the end of the season.
