Martin O'Neill is relishing next week's clash with Manchester City, insisting: "This is a game to really savour."

The Villa boss is expecting a really tough battle but thinks his claret and blue troops have the ability to cause Mark Hughes's men plenty of problems.

He told AVTV: "Manchester City will not be easy. They are playing very well at the moment and they're full of confidence.

"But, despite the set-back at the weekend, so are we. The game can't come round quickly enough.

"They are flying - no doubt about that, as you would have expected.

"They have a lot of very, very talented players in their team and others who can't get into the side and others, like Roque Santa Cruz who are coming back from injury.

"They have an abundance of talent, they are playing very well, confidence is high and it should make for a really great game.

"People will talk about Gareth and Richard but we should just concentrate on ourselves. We will try to compete.

"They have a lot of players who can cause you problems on the day. We have one or two, more than one or two, actually definitely more than one or two that can do exactly the same to them.

"It is definitely a game to savour even at this early stage in the season."

Aston Villa | News | Latest News | Latest News | MON Excited