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O'Neill wants silverware
Aston Villa, 13:40, February 27, 2010 ,
Martin O'Neill has called on his Aston Villa players to deliver the club's first trophy for 14 years against Man Utd on Sunday.
The two sides square off at Wembley in the final of the Carling Cup with Villa having failed to win a major trophy since they beat Leeds 3-0 to win the same competition in 1996.
O'Neill's side have already beaten United this season, winning 1-0 at Old Trafford, but are up against a side who have won the Carling Cup twice in the last four years.
With Villa still in the hunt in the race for fourth place, the chance to add some silverware to the Villa Park trophy cabinet is one that O'Neill believes is too good to pass up.
"Winning a trophy is the ultimate. There is no getting away from that and it would be fantastic," he said.
"We have a lot of pictures of the old teams around the training ground and why not? It is something to aspire to.
"I have often said to keep the pictures up on the walls of the 1981 league-winning side and 1982 European Cup-winning side. The early 1980s was a fantastic spell for Villa.
"The history of the club is there to see, a great tradition, so we'd like to try and do something about it. That is really what the team is there for."
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has hinted that he could play some fringe players and punters may fancy using their free bet to back what will be a full strength Villa side to win the Carling Cup.