Mellberg makes O'Leary's day

David O’Leary sang the praises of his recalled skipper Olof Mellberg whose towering display prevented Liverpool spoiling the Villa Park party.

Mellberg was instrumental in denying the Liverpool forward line on a day which saw O’Leary receive a rapturous reception for his first home game in charge.

The big defender had been surprisingly dropped by O’Leary for last week’s defeat at Portsmouth but reacted positively and earned the respect of his new boss – as did the man he replaced.

O’Leary said: “I always said I wasn’t going to judge anybody except on the five weeks of pre-season and I stand by the team I picked last week.

“The bottom line was Alpay gave two goals away last week and that’s not good enough. Olof came in and he was fantastic.

“Alpay was fantastic about it and he understood. When I informed him he wasn’t going to play he took it like a true professional.”