Birthday boy Ireland starts for Villa

Newcastle v Aston Villa

Caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald handed Stephen Ireland his Aston Villa debut on his 24th birthday.

Ireland, an £8m makeweight in the £26m deal which took former Magpie James Milner to Manchester City, was included in a side which featured eight changes from the one which drew 1-1 with Rapid Vienna in midweek.

Brad Friedel, Luke Young, Richard Dunne, Ashley Young, John Carew, Stiliyan Petrov and Ciaran Clark all returned after sitting out the trip to Austria.

Newcastle boss Chris Hughton fielded the same 11 which started the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United on Monday, but there was a place on the bench for striker Peter Lovenkrands after a groin injury.