Petrov ready to roll

Manager Martin O’Neill is confident Aston Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov can become a massive success in the Barclays Premiership after finally scoring his first goal for the midlands club.

Petrov has been inconsistent since his £8m (€11.9m) move from Celtic in August but O’Neill believes his effort against Sheffield United on Monday will give him an important confidence lift.

The Villa boss, whose side host Bolton on Saturday evening, said: “Petrov took charge against Sheffield United and I know from his games at Celtic that he’s capable of that.

“It was just a wonderful performance. He started quite brightly and then the goal gave him an enormous lift. It was like the weight came off his shoulders in that he’d finally cracked it.

“In fairness he should have scored at West Ham on his debut – and against Watford and then Manchester City with a great free-kick that hit the bar just before half-time.

“He’s a really good footballer. It was marvellous to see him do so well the other night and when he gets some real confidence about himself, he’ll become even better.”

O’Neill believes the Villa fans can play a big part against Bolton as they look to register their first home win since early November.

He said: “If we can get a bit of confidence about ourselves now at home and get the crowd stirred up, that would be great. We need to get the players lifted.

“Now for the first time, it’s up to the crowd to help lift us. The supporters can play a huge part and it’s the first time I’ve asked of them.

“Before now it’s been up to us, and I suppose it still is, but really now we could get an enormous lift from getting the crowd coming in and supporting us.

“They know now the players want to go and play. We’re playing some lovely stuff going forward, and it would be a great lift if we could get that support.”

Villa have been given permission by the Premier League to recruit a goalkeeper on loan after Stuart Taylor underwent knee surgery.

Taylor suffered the setback during Monday’s 2-2 draw at Sheffield United and he will miss the festive programme.

With Thomas Sorensen also still on the sidelines with a knee setback, O’Neill has only rookie Robert Olejnik at his disposal.

As a result the Premier League have given the green light for him to bring in another keeper for Saturday’s home Premiership game with Bolton.

Taylor will be particularly disappointed as he as looking to stake a claim for a regular first team spot after being out in the cold for the past 18 months since arriving from Arsenal.

But he was limping badly during the latter stages against the Blades and his worst fears have been confirmed after undergoing a scan.