Villa aim to tie up key duo

Aston Villa will open new contract talks with experienced duo Olof Mellberg and Gavin McCann early next month.

Manager Martin O’Neill will wait until after the Barclays Premiership clash with Everton at Villa Park on Monday, April 2 to attempt to tie the two men to the club beyond the terms of their current deals, which expire at the end of next season.

O’Neill told the club’s official website, www.avfc.co.uk: “I have said to them I will speak to them shortly after the Everton game.

“Gavin will be around, but Olof is away on international duty, and we will get the Everton match out of the way and then that clears us up.

“I know we have then got two games in quick succession after that, but we have got an opportunity, and the players know we will be discussing their futures.”

Defender Mellberg, 29, joined Villa for £5m (€7.4m) from Spanish side Racing Santander in July 2001, while McCann, also 29, headed for the Midlands during the summer of 2003 in a £2.25m (€3.3m) switch from Sunderland.