Aston Villa stars line up to replace Beckham at World Cup
Published 23:00 15/03/10 By MirrorFootball
Martin O'Neill's England hopefuls will be given another chance to enhance their cases at Wigan tonight.
O'Neill is convinced that James Milner can step into the void after David Beckham's World Cup dream was cruelly shattered by a torn Achilles tendon.
Milner's verve and versatility has impressed Fabio Capello but his specialised position is on the right side of midfield.
And Villa boss O'Neill claims his £12m signing could easily compensate for the loss of Beckham in South Africa in June, with Stewart Downing and Ashley Young's own ambitions also receiving a significant boost.
O'Neill said: "You would think James would have as good a chance as anybody to be on the plane now that David Beckham is injured.
"I would have no doubts at all he could start there. He would have absolutely no problems.
"James is an all purpose player who can play in a number of positions. I've heard he is in a great position to go.
"It's a major disappointment for Beckham as he would have been going to his fourth World Cup and that would have been a great milestone.
"But that should allow a space now for people to still climb on that plane, and I include the likes of Stewart Downing and Ashley Young.
"People have made a contribution in Fabio Capello's reign, including Theo Walcott, but I would think that Stewart and Ashley should continue to flourish in the league to get noticed.”
Villa can cut the gap on fourth-placed Spurs to three points with a win at the DW Stadium and finally end O'Neill's bizarre hoodoo.
The Ulsterman is yet to win a Premier League game in March at Villa and needs a win to boost his Champions League mission.
He said: 'We're going to try and win a game in March if we can! But we're still in contention and this is a tough league.
"Liverpool are far from out of it in my opinion and Tottenham are getting points on the board, while Manchester City have a great chance as well.
"We're still in there and striving, while in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Over the course of the next few weeks I would be very surprised if we don't have to make a number of changes in the team."
