Villa’s Steve Sidwell and Carlos Cuellar both turned out for the reserves tonight as they step up their comebacks from injury.
Both players have been nursing calf injuries but complted the full 90 minutes in tonight’s 2-1 victory at Stoke. They are now set to figure in O’Neill’s first team plans when he takes his side to visit Spurs on September 13.
While Sidwell is set to face an uphill struggle to earn a starting role with Petrov and Barry currently performing well in midfield, Cuellar could have more luck displacing Davies alongside Laursen in defence. With Davies helping Villa to keep a clean sheet last weekend against Liverpool, Cuellar could well find himself having to wait a little longer for a start.