Soccer: Dublin deserves new contract, says Angel

ASTON VILLA striker Juan Pablo Angel believes golden oldie Dion Dublin deserves to be given a new contract and said: “I wish I was a director because I’d sign him up again.”

Dublin is 34 and one of six Villa players out of contract next summer but his performances and sheer presence as a leader on the pitch are qualities manager David O'Leary will be reluctant to lose.

He was recalled against Southampton and snuffed out the threat of James Beattie in the air and then just for good measure showed he had lost none of his predatory instincts by grabbing the goal which lifted Villa out of the bottom three.

Dublin is used to overcoming adversity since he joined Villa five years ago, most notably suffering a broken neck and returning to play in just over three months.

The season before last he was loaned out to Millwall and returned to Villa for 2002-2003 as fifth-choice striker only to prove Graham Taylor wrong as he went onto finish as leading scorer with 15 goals.

Now the former England striker, one of only 10 players to score 100 Premiership goals, is slowly but surely convincing O'Leary he should not be discarded in six months.

Angel said: "Dion is an honest guy, a great professional who shows great commitment. He showed all his experience against Southampton and I thought he had a fantastic game.

"He is one of those people who always adds something to the squad. I am very proud of him and I wish I was a director of Aston Villa because I'd sign him again."

Fellow Villa striker Marcus Allback said: "Every time Dion has played this season, he has been magnificent. He's got so much passion for the game and it's nice to see. He is the dad within the group. He has done it all, knows what it is all about. He is a strong influence in the dressing room. He is a good talker."

Dublin, who has already intimated that he is looking for a new contract, issued a rallying cry to the players before Villa's first victory in seven games.

He said: "I was trying to get across to the players in the dressing room that we couldn't leave it any later to get out of trouble. We couldn't keep saying 'we'll do it next week'.

"It has not been good enough. We had to start performing on Saturday and that was emphasised with some of the chat before the game. I think we took that out onto the pitch. We showed a bit of steel. I said to the boys that it hurts to win games, it physically hurts and that you've got to be prepared to do that."

Southampton goalkeeper Antti Niemi admitted his side have to address their scoring record just 10 goals in 14 league games after a run of just one win in eight matches has sucked them back into mid-table.

The Finland international said: "The first 45 minutes was probably the busiest I've had this season and last. We didn't defend as a team and cant really argue about the final result."