JOHN TERRY insists he never considered stepping down as England captain after leading them in last night’s friendly victory at home to Sweden.

ARSENE WENGER forced a smile and shook hands with his employers before departing the Arsenal director’s box, but he did not look happy after watching his far from convincing side defeat Olympiakos to go second in Group F of the Champions League.

Robin van Persie was only named among the substitutes as Arsenal looked to earn their first Champions League Group F win of the season against Olympiacos at the Emirates Stadium tonight.

Olympiacos 0 Bordeaux 1

ARSENE WENGER praised the efforts of his young Gunners after they went down 1-0 to Olympiakos following a battling display in last night’s final Champions League Group H clash in Athens.

Chelsea tonight make one change from the side that beat Aston Villa in the Premier League last Saturday – Ashley Cole has replaced Paulo Ferreira at left-back.

ANDREI ARSHAVIN returned from suspension to earn Russia a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 with victory over Sweden in Innsbruck.

Russia 2 Sweden 0

SWEDEN striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic ended his international goal drought in style as Greece’s defence of their European Championship title started with defeat in Salzburg.

Greece 0 Sweden 2

GARETH BARRY is set to meet Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner in an attempt to persuade the England midfielder not to join Liverpool.

Defender Olof Mellberg will make his final appearance for Aston Villa in Sunday’s Premier League clash with West Ham at Upton Park.

Defender Olof Mellberg will make his final appearance for Aston Villa in Sunday’s Barclays Premier League clash with West Ham at Upton Park.

REGARDLESS of whether Aston Villa make it into Europe this season, Patrick Berger will not be around to take part.

A second-half brace from Luis Antonio Valencia handed Wigan the win they needed to confirm their Barclays Premier League status as Aston Villa failed to keep the pressure on Everton in the battle for the UEFA Cup.

Olof Mellberg, Aston Villa’s long-serving defender, is in danger of missing his Villa Park farewell against Wigan tomorrow after being laid low by illness.

THEY will probably be complaining about the extra workload and inconvenience of having to play on a Thursday night by the time they reach the group stages in the autumn.

Everton had Leon Osman back in their midfield after a hip injury, which allowed skipper Phil Neville to revert to full-back with Tony Hibbert dropping to the bench from the side beaten by Chelsea last time out.

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill has no fresh injury worries ahead of the vital Premier Leauge clash with Everton at Goodison Park.

MARTIN O’NEILL raised more than a few eyebrows when he purchased Ashley Young for £9 million (€11.4m) just over a year ago, but the doubters have suddenly fallen silent.

Aston Villa midfielder Craig Gardner could play some part in the derby clash with Birmingham on Sunday after returning to full training.

Aston Villa striker John Carew is battling to be fit for Saturday’s Barclays Premier League clash at already relegated Derby.

THIS TIME last year Bolton Wanderers were coasting towards a UEFA Cup place and cocking a snook at the aristocrats. Now they are heading inexorably for the Championship without even a whimper.

Top scorer John Carew is winning his battle to be fit for Aston Villa’s Premier League home clash with Bolton tomorrow.

Manchester United 4 Aston Villa 0

Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg is poised to return to the side for Saturday evening’s clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg is doing his homework on new employers Juventus ahead of his move to the Serie A giants in the summer.

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill is set to recall Olof Mellberg for Saturday’s clash at Manchester United despite the Juventus-bound defender saying he is glad to be moving to a club who will be challenging for honours.

Craig Gardner is winning his battle to be fit for Aston Villa’s home clash with Sunderland on Saturday – and prevent manager Martin O’Neill from suffering a right-back dilemma.

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill could be faced with a right-back dilemma for Saturday’s home Barclays Premier League clash with Sunderland.

SPARE a thought for poor Scott Carson, who once again has much to think about and much he would like to forget. Not only was England manager Fabio Capello present to witness yet more shortcomings on Saturday, he also had to watch David James, his biggest rival for an England shirt, excel at the other end.

Aston Villa have doubts over striker Gabriel Agbonlahor and right-back Craig Gardner for tomorrow’s trip to Portsmouth.

Aston Villa central defender Zat Knight is poised to make his first start of 2008 in tomorrow’s rearranged Barclays Premier League match against Middlesbrough.

Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg and midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker are winning their battle to be fit for Wednesday’s rearranged home Barclays Premier League clash with Middlesbrough.

Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg looks like winning his battle to be fit for tomorrow’s clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium after returning to training following an ankle injury which forced him to miss the win at Reading.

Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor is winning his battle to be fit for the clash with Reading.

Aston Villa 4 Newcastle 1

Aston Villa’s leading scorer Gabriel Agbonlahor is a major doubt for the Saturday lunchtime clash with Kevin Keegan’s side.

JIMMY BULLARD was on the receiving end of a beating from his own team mate in midweek, but he was the one handing one out to Aston Villa.

Aston Villa winger Ashley Young will miss his first Premier League game of the season at Craven Cottage through suspension.

Sweden defender Olof Mellberg will move from Aston Villa to Juventus at the end of this season, the Italian club have confirmed.

Aston Villa central defender Gary Cahill finally looks poised to complete a move to Bolton.

PEOPLE laughed at Martin O’Neill’s decision to spend €12 million on Ashley Young 12 months ago but the Aston Villa manager will be the one with the widest smile when the winger is selected in Fabio Capello’s first England squad this week.

Martin O’Neill has confirmed Aston Villa have received an offer from Juventus for long-serving defender Olof Mellberg.