Sidwell set for Villa return

Posted Monday, October 05, 2009 by PA

Aston Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell is back in contention after injury for the home Barclays Premier League clash with Manchester City on Monday.

The former Chelsea player has been unavailable for the last two games against Cardiff in the Carling Cup and Blackburn in the league because of a thigh problem, but he has now resumed training.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill has no fresh injury worries as he prepares to welcome back Gareth Barry, who spent 12 years at Villa before his #12million summer move to Eastlands. Former City skipper Richard Dunne will face his old team-mates for the first time since his #6million switch to Villa in August.

O'Neill believes Manchester City already pose a "genuine threat" in terms of breaking into the top four of the Barclays Premier League.

O'Neill is not amongst the sceptics who question whether Mark Hughes' side will take time to fully gel after a massive summer spending spree at Eastlands.

Villa have similar ambitions of challenging for a Champions League spot and will be put to the test when they tackle City in Monday's home clash.

And O'Neill knows Villa will have to be on their guard in tackling Emmanuel Adebayor after his return from suspension.

The former Celtic boss said: "You can draw comparisons with Chelsea a few years ago. They had a talented manager in place (Jose Mourinho) and won two Premier League titles on the bounce.

"They made Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal sit up and take notice. Now Manchester City have been able to accumulate players by spending big. In a couple of years time probably some other club will be able to do the same again."

Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland will return for City.

After completing a three-match ban Adebayor has been cleared to play after escaping an FA misconduct charge with a #25,000 fine following his controversial goal celebration against Arsenal last month.

Ireland has recovered from a sickness bug and he should also be involved.

Hughes is convinced the early arrival of Barry helped trigger City's #120million summer spending spree.

Barry concluded negotiations with City over a #12million move from Villa during an England World Cup double-header at the end of last season.

Having been denied a "dream" move to Liverpool 12 months earlier, Barry was in no mood to hang around again. And, while City could not immediately offer the Champions League combat the 28-year-old was so desperate for, the switch offered a promise of far more than Villa could.

And, for Hughes, the spin-off was a significant statement of intent, which proved the prelude to a flurry of transfer activity aimed at propelling the Eastlands outfit into the top four.

"Gareth was always a player I had admired from afar," recounted Hughes. "He has a huge range of passing and is able to be constructive and destructive in midfield.

"When you also take into account the amount of quality games he is able to produce over a long period of time, I just felt he was a player we needed to bring to the club. To a certain extent it helped other players to come as well."