Villa ready to cup-tie Milner unless City deal is done fast

Aston Villa caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald has warned Man City he is prepared to play James Milner in Europe this week.

City are still trying to wrap up the signature of Villa's England midfielder Milner.

But the deal has been held up by Stephen Ireland's insistence on a £2million pay-off from the Eastlands club.

MacDonald responded by playing Milner in Villa's emphatic 3-0 victory over West Ham on the opening day of the Premier League.

Milner, 24, scored in the romp to increase MacDonald's chances of succeeding Martin O'Neill permanently.

And MacDonald insists he may select Milner again on Thursday away at Rapid Vienna - even if it means the ace is then cup-tied.

"I won't be naming a Europa League squad until Tuesday or Wednesday," said MacDonald.

"James is a top player and if he's available I will consider him.

"If we were going to stop him playing then we should have stopped him playing in the Premier League.

"I think there's probably more chance of him getting an injury in a Premier League game because of the physical contact.

"So I just think if James hasn't gone to Manchester City by the middle of the week, I'm sure he'll want to play, because he just loves playing football as you saw out there against West Ham."

MacDonald is now the bookies' favourite to succeed O'Neill as the Villa squad spoke glowingly about him after Saturday's superb victory.

MacDonald has been told by Villa owner Randy Lerner to prepare for Thursday's first leg Europa League play-off.

And, in another indication MacDonald believes he may get the post, he intends to rotate his squad for the game.

MacDonald is mindful of giving O'Neill outcasts like Nigel Reo-Coker, Steve Sidwell and Curtis Davies a start to make them truly feel part of the squad once more.

He added: "There's a lot of squad players who haven't been in the squad who might be coming back and available to play, so if they're available I may play some of them.

"I think the intensity that the lads played against West Ham will be difficult to recreate on Thursday night, so it's something we'll have to look at."

But publicly MacDonald is being very coy about his chances of landing the Villa job and is instead concentrating on winning his matches at the helm.

MacDonald said: "The games are coming so thick and fast.

"If I can get on the training ground and try and affect the players, that's better for me."