O'Neil gunning for the leaders

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill is relishing the prospect of seeing his in-form side lock horns with Premier League leaders Arsenal at Villa Park.

Sixth-placed Villa head into the game on the back of their best run of results for more than seven years.

Their 4-0 win at Blackburn on Wednesday night was their fourth successive victory – something they have not done since way back in April 2000.

The last three of the wins have all come on the road – at Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Blackburn, and O’Neill is keen to see that good form extended when Villa play host to an Arsenal side which will be smarting from their Champions League defeat at the hands of Sevilla.

O’Neill said: “It was nice to have won these consecutive away games because I was very worried about them beforehand.

“But now we can go to play against Arsenal on Saturday full of confidence.

“But they are a terrific side. They are top of the league obviously and are going brilliantly at the moment and it will be a tough game for us.”

Villa’s surge up the table is even more impressive as O’Neill has one of the smallest squads in the Premier League to call on.

Fortunately for Villa, striker John Carew is the only player to have suffered a lengthy injury absence this season.

However, the lack of cover in some areas of the squad is something that O’Neill is keen to address in the January transfer window.

He added: “I keep looking at the team programmes and the number of players that other teams have and how many less we appear to have.

“Maybe we will have a chance to address that situation in January if we can. In the meantime, I couldn’t be more delighted with the players. Their reaction and everything about them has been terrific.

“But we know we need to keep them fit and, touch wood, they have been a bit lucky in that department.

“We have got a long way to go between now and January. With a lot of injury problems we would be in trouble.”

One short-term injury problem could affect O’Neill’s plans for the clash with Arsenal.

Villa may have to chase their fifth straight win without their six-goal leading scorer, Gabriel Agbonlahor. The England Under-21 international suffered a gashed ankle at Blackburn.

He will be given as long as possible to recover but O’Neill admits it is a concern. The former Celtic boss said: “He suffered a bit of damage under the skin and we will have to check how he is.

“But the one thing about Gabby is that he will want to play.”

Marlon Harewood, who scored his first league goal for Villa and the 100th league goal of his career against Blackburn, is on standby to replace Agbonlahor.

O’Neill also has the option of calling up Luke Moore or Shaun Maloney to join Carew in attack if Agbonlahor is ruled out.