Aston Villa Football Club

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Paul Lambert

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42584

Allardyce backed by O'Neill

14 Jan 2010 - 08:03:58

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Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has backed his Blackburn Rovers counterpart Sam Allardyce ahead of the meeting of the two sides in the Carling Cup semi-finals.

O'Neill and Allardyce lock horns in a delayed first leg at Ewood Park on Thursday evening, with the latter's position having been questioned following a run of 11 games without a win.

However, O'Neill has backed Allardyce to get Rovers back on track sooner rather than later, saying: "I would absolutely back Blackburn Rovers.

"I didn't realise they had not won for so many games, but I wouldn't think with Sam in charge they will have any problems.

"I don't know anything about him being under pressure, but we're all only a couple of games away from a crisis.

"That has been proven, not just recently, but over the last number of years.

"It's a precarious enough job, but at the end of it all, we're all just two results away from potential disaster."