Villa leave stars out of Russia trip

Aston Villa will leave all their big name players at home when they travel to Russia for their UEFA Cup second round, second leg clash with CSKA Moscow on Thursday.

Manager Martin O’Neill confirmed on Tuesday that stand-in captain Gareth Barry, first-choice goalkeeper Brad Friedel, Emile Heskey, James Milner, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Carlos Cuellar and Stiliyan Petrov would all be spared the trip.

Villa face a struggle to reach the last 16 after a 1-1 draw in the first leg last week and O’Neill believes the club’s fight for a top four finish in the Premier League must take priority over the UEFA Cup campaign.

Villa are currently fourth in the league with a six-point advantage over Arsenal in the battle for the final qualifying spot for next season’s Champions League.

O’Neill’s squad started the year in impressive form but have shown signs of weariness of late however with the draw with CSKA sandwiched by defeats to Everton, in the FA Cup, and Chelsea, in the league.

“We want to keep momentum going in the Premier League – an opinion I am sure Villa fans would echo,” O’Neill said. “But we don’t really have the size of squad that Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal can call on. That’s not being defeatist – that’s just being realistic.”

The Villa boss added: “It seems strange I know but had we been seventh, eighth or ninth, let’s say, in the table, it would have been a different outlook.

“Chasing a top-four spot, though, to get you a place in the Champions League, is everything.”