According to Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill, Stiliyan Petrov could sign a contract extension within the next fortnight. O'Neill believes the 29-year-old has been key to the club's good form, and is keen to extend his contract, which has 18 months left to run.

"We will be dealing with it the minute the transfer window is over," O'Neill told the Express and Star.

"He is playing great. I have the utmost regard for him because he has fought back from a really difficult situation."

"Sometimes you can never win people over but he has done that himself. I think he has been really big for us this season, consistently excellent, confidence is high now whereas confidence wasn't that high before," added the Villa chief.