Villa and City battling for seventh spot

With both Aston Villa and Manchester City still harbouring hopes of taking seventh place in the Barclays Premier League and with it a UEFA Cup spot for next season, this game was far from a meaningless, end-of-season affair.

Villa boss David O’Leary made three changes to the side hammered 5-1 at Tottenham last Sunday, with Thomas Sorensen replacing Stefan Postma in goal after recovering from illness.

Ulises de la Cruz was also preferred at right back ahead of Liam Ridgewell, while Lee Hendrie was back in the starting line-up after two matches on the bench ahead of Nolberto Solano.

Stuart Pearce, named as manager of the month for April, was forced into a reshuffle due to Richard Dunne undergoing ankle surgery.

Nedum Onuoha joined Sylvain Distin at the heart of the defence, allowing Danny Mills to start his first game of the Pearce era, while Ben Thatcher was also recalled, along with Jonathan Macken as Robbie Fowler was sidelined with a calf injury.

Aston Villa: Sorensen, De la Cruz, Laursen, Delaney, Samuel, Hendrie, Davis, Hitzlsperger, Barry, Angel, Vassell. Subs: Solano, Postma, Djemba-Djemba, Ridgewell, Moore.

Man City: James, Mills, Distin, Onuoha, Thatcher, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Reyna, Barton, Musampa, Sibierski, Macken. Subs: Weaver, Sommeil, Jordan, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Croft.

Referee: R Beeby (Northamptonshire)