Newcastle Shirt Villa Shirt The away trip to Villa this season can only be described as awful, with a terrible defensive display which gave us exactly what we deserved, a 2-0 defeat.

2007 and despite plenty of guts on display against Man Utd the same problem still exist within the club with poor defensive performances becoming the norm of late and with the likes of Birmingham making us look second rate. However today is a new day and Villa are no longer riding the wave of a new manager. Despite a very quiet transfer window Newcastle have managed to sign Gooch who will hopefully put pressure on the center backs to put on a display.

» Squads

Newcastle (from): Harper, Srnicek, Carr, Edgar, Taylor, Bramble, Huntington, Butt, Parker, Milner, Duff, Pattison, Troisi, Gate, Martins, Dyer, Sibierski, Luque, Carroll, LuaLua.

Aston Villa (from): Sorensen, Taylor, Bardsley, Hughes, Mellberg, Cahill, Ridgewell, Bouma, Agbonlahor, Petrov, Davis, Osbourne, McCann, Barry, Carew, Young, Angel.

» Injuries and Suspensions

Newcastle’s Emre is still missing from this game and will be joined by the still absent Moore and Babayaro. Owen and Ameobi make steady progress towards their return which Roeder claims may be as soon as April.

Steven Taylor returns to the starting line up after serving a suspension however Solano replaces him after picking up a ban. Ramage and Given all miss the match through injuries but Bramble and Duff look set to return to the starting line up.

New signings Ashley Young and John Carew will start up front for Villa and Stilian Petrov looks to have recovered from a hamstring injury.

» Pre-Match Views

Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder:

On Damien Duff
“Now I have gotten to know Damien, he is very hard on himself and in my opinion he is often too critical of himself.

“He’s had a period of settling in, not least because he has come from a team which has won two Premiership titles.

“He has also had to handle the transition of moving from London and there a lot of factors why Damien is saying he hasn’t had the best of starts.

“But I think that shows what an honest lad he is. He is desperate to do well in a Newcastle shirt and I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to work with him everyday.”

“Let’s see, maybe this little break will set him off and fire him up to play in a manner in which he wants to play because he sets his standards very high.”

On Titus Bramble
“Titus had an enforced break with his injury but it was freak thing,”

“His calf muscle started bleeding and became dangerous. It was another example of how freakish the injuries have been.

“It’s great Titus is back and now I have to decide whether he is fit enough to start or stay on the bench.”

On Transfer Latest:

“I know we’re cutting it fine but I’m hopeful that we can get a striker in.

“If I can get the player I’m trying to get I’m sure he would be an excellent addition to the squad, but that’s very much in the balance at the moment.”
“I’m already onto my second phone having worn the first one out.

“It’s been a tough month for everyone and not just me, there haven’t been many big transfers.

“Perhaps the biggest came at Aston Villa with Ashley Young’s signing, but there is no deal I look at where I feel we have missed out.

“The fans are right to be clambering for signings but it’s been difficult and we don’t want to make mistakes.”

Villa Boss Martin O’Neil:

On Ashley Young and John Carew:

“The new lads have settled in okay but, just because we have signed a couple of people, doesn’t means our fortunes have changed overnight and we will be challenging for the Champions League.

“But I am excited by their arrival. Ashley has phenomenal potential to be a good player and I am sure he will prove his worth during his time at Villa while John has proved himself in big games across Europe.

“They have as good a chance of playing as anyone at Newcastle, although John had a bit of groin problem towards the end at Lyon and could do with a bit more work.”

» Predicted Lineup

Steven Harper

Stephen Carr
Steven Taylor
Titus Bramble
Paul Huntington

James Milner
Kieron Dyer
Scott Parker
Damien Duff

Obafemi Martins
Antoine Sibierski

» Head2Head

In the League:

Played: 137
Newcastle Wins: 60
Draws: 29
Villa Wins: 48

In the Premiership:

Played: 27
Newcastle Wins: 14
Draws: 8
Villa Wins: 5

at St James Park
League: Newcastle 42 wins, Villa 14, Draws 12
Prem: Newcastle 8 wins, Villa 2, Draws 3

» Prediction

It has to be a close match, but it depends on which Newcastle United we see. If it’s the Newcastle of the first half against West Ham then we are going to get thrashed probably 3 or 4 nill. However with a few much needed players back and with new signings hopefully being a boost to the crowd I’m going for 2-1 win to Newcastle.

Howay the Lads!