Newcastle v Aston Villa match preview

Following the weekend's action the Premier League, Newcastle heads into their match against Aston Villa at the absolute bottom of the table. Whilst play has been explemary of late, the charge must be sounded and points are needed. Conversely Martin O'Neill's club sits fifth in the table and have walked away with full points in five of their last seven matches.

Newcastle will be boosted with the return of captain Michael Owen and Nicky Butt is looking like he'll be ready to go after recovering from injury.

Aston Villa's Steve Sidwell will face a pre-match fitness test but they will be without Stiliyan Petrov.

The match sees the return of James Milner to St James' Park. Many insiders note the situation around his departure as the catalyst that lead to Kevin Keegan leaving. In speaking of the former Newcastle midfielder Martin O'Neill said:

"James had played a lot of games for Newcastle and if they were stalling on a new contract we had a great opportunity to get him in.

"He was worth every penny of the fee and is doing very well for us - he conjured up something from nothing for the second goal against Blackburn on Wednesday.

"He has energy, great determination, skill and will definitely improve."

I will report on the match as it concludes.