Tonight:
5°c
Barry better for the rest
Evening Standard 3 Oct 2008Martin O'Neill was pleased enough with Aston Villa's progress into the UEFA Cup group stages but he was delighted that some of his top players were able to rest before Sunday's game at Chelsea.
A 1-1 home draw was good enough to beat Bulgarian side Litex Lovech 4-2 on aggregate.
"It was hard to get excited by it," O'Neill admitted.
But Gareth Barry, Nigel Reo-Coker, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Martin Laursen, John Carew and Curtis Davies were not required and the Villa boss said: "They should be fresh for Stamford Bridge. Gareth was crying out for a break. He has played a lot of games and that will help him enormously."
