O'Neill Nursing Villa Youth

Good grief, news really is at a premium at the moment, how boring!

Martin O'Neill says he won't let the Villa youngsters burn out and has used the international games to give Nigel Hokey Cokey a break. Hasn't Hokey Cokey given himself a break with his red card?!! :o)

O'Neill told avfc.com:

'Obviously the exertions of international matches, players travelling all over the place, having not much of a break in the summer, can take its toll. Reo-Coker had no time off in the summer. He captained the England Under-21 side in the European Championships all through June, came back and went straight into the transfer from West Ham to Aston Villa. He had little time off and we had a chance last week to give him a week's break. I am hoping during the course of the season that we are able to give someone else a break.'

And on the other youngsters, who are also featuring for the Under 21's and in Young's case knocking on the door of the full England squad he added, 'You may have to keep an eye on people like Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young later in the season and, if little opportunities arise where we might be able to get to give them a break, then great. For some of the players who have played a lot of games, I'll try and give them a rest. Brian Clough used to do that when I was a player at Nottingham Forest. The bad news was that he used to come with us!'

Trouble is, with a small squad like ours, how do you give anyone a real break? Still, we are out of the Carling Cup so that is one set of extra games we won't be playing in.

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