Mellberg unhappy at Villa snub

Olof Mellberg claims he has been left in the dark by David O'Leary's decision to omit him from Aston Villa's starting line-up for the Premiership opener against Portsmouth.

The Sweden international was an ever-present last season under former boss Graham Taylor and considered himself to be in peak condition heading into the new season.

But the defender was left as a non-playing substitute against Portsmouth as Villa went down 2-1.

"I was very surprised and disappointed," Mellberg said to the Swedish media.

"I have not heard any reason why I was left out of the side at Portsmouth. I'm in great form and had looked forward to the season and trained a lot."

Mellberg will hope to get a better look-in when he reports for international duty this week with Sweden playing Greece in a friendly on Wednesday.