Young keeps Villa sprightly

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.

The new national team manager will have left Villa Park with several names on his short-list for the friendly against Switzerland at Wembley on February 6, with David Bentley and Scott Carson also catching the Italian’s eye.

However it will be the memory of Young’s wonderful free-kick, that extended Aston Villa’s unbeaten run to eight games and his languid, free-running style that will have impressed Capello most as he plans to revitalise English football.

No matter how raucous the clamour for David Beckham to win his 100th cap, Young gave a tantalising glimpse of the future with a set-piece goal old “Golden Balls” would have been proud to claim his own.

“I didn’t know Capello was at the game until someone said at the end, but I am just concentrating on myself and how well I can do for Villa,” said Young. “If I can do that, hopefully, then playing for the national team can take care of itself.

“I won’t spend any time dwelling on a call up if I get one. I just want to do well for Villa. Hopefully I will get a call-up but we will just have to wait and see when the squad is announced next week.

“If I am in it, then I will go down there and do my best and keep doing my best for Villa, but I am really happy at getting that free-kick.”

Equally happy will be Carson for his first-half penalty save, to deny Matt Derbyshire, after Nigel Reo-Coker’s crass foul on Bentley. With Paul Robinson out of favour under Juande Ramos at White Hart Lane, the on-loan Liverpool goalkeeper has a real chance to stake a claim for the No1 slot and banish the memories of his full debut against Croatia.

“That will give him a big lift, with Capello watching as well. I’ve been pretty pleased with Scott since that England game,” said O‘Neill, who seems more inclined than ever to exercise his €15m buying option on Carson in the summer when his Anfield loan runs out.

O’Neill will be spending too before the end of the month. He still acknowledges that his squad, the smallest in the Premier League has been fortunate to avoid serious injuries and he could still lose Olof Mellberg to Juventus this week, after the Italian club’s €750,000 offer.

There is still a long-standing interest in the Tottenham duo Pascal Chimbonda and Jermain Defoe and O’Neill loves to leave things until the last minute in the January window. The addition of those kind of players now, could really give Villa an opportunity to break into the top four this season.

Both teams at least harbour desires to make the Uefa Cup this season and Roque Santa Cruz’s 15th goal of the campaign looked to have given Mark Hughes’ side fresh impetus, until Young’s goal, but whatever the outcome in May, the Blackburn manager knows that he is bucking the trend financially.

“If you look in the top 10 of the Premier League, we stand out as the one that hasn’t spent any money, really; the vast majority of clubs we’re in and around have spent vast amounts. We haven’t been able to, much as we’d like to on occasions, but we get the best out of the players we’ve got and I think that’s to our credit,” said Hughes.

No doubt Hughes would appreciate the kind of financial backing American owner Randy Lerner has been able to supply O’Neill, since arriving at Villa Park and it has all been done with a minimum of fuss. George Gillett and Tom Hicks could perhaps learn a thing or two from their compatriot.

ASTON VILLA (4-4-2): Carson 7, Mellberg 7, Laursen 7, Davies 6, Bouma 6, Petrov 5 (Harewood 60, 7), Reo-Coker 6, Barry 6, Young 8, Carew 7, Agbonlahor 6.

Subs Not Used: Taylor, Knight, Gardner, Osbourne.

BLACKBURN (4-5-1): Friedel 7, Emerton 6, Ooijer 6, Samba 7, Warnock 7, Reid 6, Dunn 7, Bentley 7, Pedersen 6, Derbyshire 6 (Roberts 87); Santa Cruz 7.

Subs Not Used: Brown, McCarthy, Khizanishvili, Berner.

REFEREE: Howard Webb (South Yorkshire) 7: The best in the Premier League and he underlined it here. Kept his cards in his pocket until very late in the game and tried to let things flow.

MATCH RATING: ** Two teams battling for at least a UEFA Cup place cancelled each other out and Villa will be the more disappointed at not making their home advantage count.