Time is running out for both Newcastle United and Aston Villa as they attempt to mount challenges for a finishing position that would earn them a place in the Uefa Cup next season.
Newcastle are seven points behind sixth-placed Portsmouth and Villa are a further point adrift, so the next month is turning into a make-or-break period for both Premiership clubs.
Defeat for either side in Wednesday’s league encounter at St James’s Park would be a major blow to fulfilling European ambitions and avoiding further charges of under-achievement by these big-city teams.
But at least they can go into the match with their optimism soaring as they send out stronger squads than in the last few weeks.
Birmingham-based Villa, in particular, have been busy in the January transfer market and appear to have invested better than most teams with the acquisition of John Carew and Ashley Young.
Carew (27) has moved from Lyon in an exchange deal involving Milan Baros and the Norwegian striker has all the qualities needed to make him a success in Premiership.
Newcastle will be the first to put that theory to the test, with Carew insisting that Villa’s Martin O’Neill is the perfect manager for him.
”I honestly believe that Martin O’Neill can bring even more out of me,” said Carew. ”I think he will make me a better player.”
Young (21) is equally excited by the prospect of linking with Carew. ”I can only learn from a player of his quality,” he said.
For Young, the striker who cost £9,5-million from Premiership basement club Watford, the match at Newcastle cannot come quickly enough.
”I can’t wait to get out there and play alongside John. I have seen him in action on television a great deal and he is a really excellent player.
”You think of a big striker mainly as a target man but he has got good feet, can still run, is very good in the air and has a good all-round game.”
Both are expected to start against Newcastle, while Stilian Petrov should recover from a hamstring strain.
Now Carew and Young have to settle in quickly if defender Gary Cahill’s confidence is not to prove misplaced. ”We are sending out a message to the rest of the Premiership that we mean business,” Cahill insisted.
Meanwhile, there was good news for Magpies manager Glenn Roeder, who celebrates the first anniversary of his Newcastle reign later this week.
However, the ”many happy returns” on his mind only concern the comebacks of several injured players, with Antoine Sibierski, Damien Duff and Titus Bramble all fit again after lengthy lay-offs.
Suspension forces former Villa winger Nolberto Solano onto the sidelines along with injured players such as Emre, Charles N’Zogbia, Peter Ramage and Shay Given, but defender Steven Taylor is back from a ban and Roeder feels the worst of his worries are behind him.
Duff, in particular, will be welcome after just one brief appearance as a substitute in the last two months.
The former Chelsea winger, who has had cartilage and calf injuries, said: ”The Newcastle fans certainly haven’t seen the best of me yet.
”It’s been a very frustrating two months and, even when I was playing before my injuries, I wouldn’t say I was at my sharpest,” the Republic of Ireland international added.
Meanwhile, Sibierski has recovered from a throat injury and adds to United’s firepower. He said: ”Obafemi Martins is doing well and has scored many goals, but we need another striker to get goals too.” — Sapa-AFP