With Randy Lerner officially announced as chairman of Aston Villa, he would probably have wished for a more grandiose setting than Scunthorpe to celebrate that milestone.

In a statement to the Stock Exchange, it was noted that Lerner (pictured) had now acquired 89.6 percent of the shares with the final ten per cent purchase a mere formality.

He will delist Villa from the Stock Exchange on October 17 as his new broom sweeps away the remnants of Doug Ellis' reign.

Whilst the former owner will be given an honorary life-presidency, the only other stalwart to survive Lerner's cull is Steve Stride.

All other board members have resigned and been replaced by General Charles C Krulak, Bob Kain and Michael Martin as non-executive directors. Martin O'Neill, meanwhile, is more concerned with on-field matters and preserving his outstanding record in the League Cup.

He has appeared in the final six times, as either a player with Nottingham Forest or manager with Leicester and emerged triumphant on four occasions.

In fact, his last League Cup fixture in England was back in 2000 when he guided Leicester to the trophy after a 2-1 win over Tranmere.

Villa's history in this tournament is illustrious but recently they have fared badly. They fell from grace two years ago at Burnley before being humiliated at Doncaster last season.

The ingredients are there for an upset at Glanford Park but this Villa side is a different animal to the one under David O'Leary and while their compact ground is light years away from Villa Park, O'Neill is adamant that Lerner will enjoy the experience.

"I believe he (Lerner) is going to be here and staying on for the Charlton game on Saturday," confirmed O'Neill.

"I hope Scunthorpe isn't a culture shock for him, as it is part of our culture and part of the heritage of English foot-ball. I think it is really important for him to see games like this - as long as we win," added O'Neill with a mischievous grin. "However, he has seen Cleveland (Browns) lose their first two games so I don't think he will be too happy at the moment.

"They lost their opening game against New Orleans Saints at home and that was a bad result whilst they lost their second game against Cincinnati on Sunday.

"There are only three competitions we enter at the start of this season so why we would want to go meekly out of the competition?" O'Neill continued, returning to the fixture at Scunthorpe. "Winning is everything, so I won't be making wholesale changes for the sake of it."

O'Neill is taking nothing for granted and will field a strong side. Didier Agathe is likely to make his debut at some stage of the proceedings, although Lee Hendrie won't be considered. If the midfielder recovers from a minor injury, O'Neill has tentatively agreed to loan him to Crystal Palace.