Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has been fulsome in his praise of captain Stiliyan Petrov. Petrov is defying the discomfort of Achilles and ankle problems to keep Villa's midfield engine room ticking over.

O'Neill said: "I must admit I would have given him no chance of playing in the FA Cup game at Crystal Palace last weekend.

"He came off against Manchester United and came in the next day for treatment.

"He was very sore and hobbling. I really could not have seen him play the FA Cup game against Palace but he did and he scored a fine equalising goal.

"It was a genuine injury and he did remarkably well to recover and play at Palace."

O'Neill is impressed with the impact Petrov has made at Villa Park.

He continued: "In the last two seasons he has played here at Villa he has been absolutely fantastic.

"He is very modest about his game. He always says that he has to play so well to make up for lost time when he did not play so well when he first came to Villa from Celtic.

"But his last two seasons have been so consistently excellent. I think he has taken on the mantle of captaincy not just on the field but also off the field.

"He tries to get things organised for the players and he takes care about certain things.

"He is also incredibly generous as well with some of the things he has done for other players.

"He wouldn't mention that and I think the other players have a healthy respect for him."