Clean sheets for vexed Villa trio

NEW manager David O’Leary has offered an olive branch to Aston Villa’s trio of unsettled players, telling them he is prepared to wipe the slate clean.

Club-record signing Juan Pablo Angel and Turkish international Ozalan Alpay constantly made it clear that they were unhappy with life at Villa Park during the past season.

And Bosko Balaban, who was loaned back to Dinamo Zagreb for the whole of 2002/2003 despite costing Villa £6 million, has now returned to pre-season training.