Stilian Petrov demands to take Aston Villa penalties from now on

Aston Villa skipper Stilian Petrov has revealed he will demand boss Martin O'Neill take spot-kick duties off misfiring Ashley Young and James Milner and give them to him.

Young and Milner have so far been sharing penalties since regular taker Gareth Barry - whose record was near flawless - quit for City in the summer.

But Milner missed from the spot for Villa in Saturday's 5-1 win over Bolton.

His blushes were spared when Steve Sidwell's attempt to score from the rebound hit a post and came back to him to ram home.

Milner has also had a penalty saved against Cardiff in the Carling Cup ealier this season.

Young, meanwhile, has fared little better. His miss in the Europa League second leg tie against Rapid Vienna earlier this season

proved costly as the Austrians went on to win the tie.

The current Young Player of the Year also had an effort saved in the 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Wednesday night.

Now Petrov wants to take over. The Bulgarian, suspended for Saturday's stunning win over Bolton, said: "I will have a word and I will try to take the next one so we'll see how that goes.

"Obviously Ashley was disappointed after the miss against West Ham. When we don't win he's never happy, but he'll bounce back.

"He knows that when you take a penalty you miss or you score, sometimes things like that happen.

"I'll try my best. Will the manager let me take it? I hope so. There's been so far James and Ashley and I hope I can step in for the next one."

But defiant Young, who went on to score an equaliser after Wednesday night's miss, has insisted he will again step up if needed.

The England winger - who went made up for his miss with a goal against the Hammers, said: "Do I want the next one? Of course. I missed it but I've picked myself up and scored the goal."