Inspired Whelan stuns sorry Villa

MARTIN O’NEILL apologised to around 300 Aston Villa supporters in midweek and offered to buy them dinner, after fielding a deliberately weakened team in the UEFA Cup in Moscow.

There should be a collective sorry from the whole of his team after the careless way they tossed away the chance to move closer to dining at the Champions League top table.

O’Neill sacrificed his UEFA Cup life on the plastic pitch of the Luhzniki Stadium on Thursday to rejuvenate his team and they repaid him by failing to last the distance against Tony Pulis’s bruisers, conceding two goals in the final six minutes to round off a miserable week in the most desperate manner.