O'Neill sticks up for Villa changes

O'Neill flew out on Tuesday with virtually a reserve squad, with Zat Knight, Curtis Davies and Luke Young the only survivors from those who started in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at home to Chelsea.O'Neill made it clear after that game, and in the wake of the last-32 first-leg draw with Moscow last Wednesday, he was prepared to make changes.With Villa's hopes of clinching a Champions League place through the Premier League on the line, O'Neill has made it abundantly clear where his priorities lie, with the UEFA Cup a sideshow to the main event.That is despite all the hard work the players put in last season in qualifying for Europe via the Intertoto Cup, and in particular this season having started that competition in mid-July.But with two vital Premier League games with Stoke and Manchester City to follow in the space of six days, O'Neill felt he had no choice but to leave at home his big guns.Watching from home will be Gareth Barry, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, Brad Friedel, James Milner, Carlos Cuellar, Stiliyan Petrov, Emile Heskey and Nigel Reo-Coker.If you throw in the injured Martin Laursen and Wilfred Bouma, those players would constitute the make up of any Villa starting XI.But a defiant O'Neill said: "Although it was a difficult decision, we have to trust the players who are going."I think it's a great opportunity for some of the younger lads in the side, which is terrific."We're not going to be defeatist. We are going there to try and get through."But we've just had three games in six days and we looked a bit leggy to begin with against Chelsea."We need the players to try and stay as fresh as we possibly can, so that was the decision we made."We come back to Stoke on Sunday and are at it again on Wednesday night (against Manchester City), and that was going to be hard."It's a pretty hectic schedule, and it was a difficult call."But the chairman has entrusted me with the decisions, and I believe what we're doing is for the well being of the football club." CSKA Moscow 8/13, Draw 11/4, Aston Villa 9/2 

Source: Team_Talk