Villa boss Martin O'Neill set to drop Nigel Reo-Coker for Burnley game

Martin O'Neill is set to risk reopening his row with Nigel Reo-Coker after admitting the midfielder may be dropped today.

Villa boss O’Neill recalled Reo-Coker and made him skipper for their 5-1 win over Bolton when Stiliyan Petrov was suspended.

It was the midfielder’s first Premier League start since his infamous training ground bust-up with O’Neill in September.

Fiery Reo-Coker, 25, was suspended and dropped for telling O’Neill to “f*** off" in a heated argument.

A lot of Reo-Coker’s frustrations stemmed from being omitted on the opening day for rookie Fabian Delph despite impressing in pre-season.

But after thrashing Bolton, O’Neill declared he is “too old to bear grudges".

Yet privately Reo-Coker is believed to fear he will have to quit Villa in January to get regular football.

And those feelings are likely to be cemented today if
O’Neill puts perceived favourite Petrov straight back into the starting line-up at Burnley.

O’Neill said: “The way we played against Bolton, I was particularly pleased with the contributions of the side.

“But I have a team to pick and, of course, there will be one or two players who have played well in games who might be disappointed.

“It is the first time in quite a lengthy period we have proper competition for places so I couldn’t be more pleased.

“Nigel played and when Stiliyan wasn’t there I made him the captain of the team.

“He had captained the team before and captained us in the Peace Cup in the summer.

“But now there will be a few decisions to make and I hope we can come up with the right ones.”

O’Neill will also leave it until today before deciding whether Villa’s Republic of Ireland defender Richard Dunne is in the right frame of mind to play.

Dunne returned to Villa yesterday after playing in Ireland’s play-off defeat to France when Thierry Henry used his hand to set-up a controversial extra-time winner.

O’Neill, who excused Dunne training yesterday, added: “It will take Richard some time to get over it.

“It is a devastating blow for him. I will leave it almost up to him as to whether he plays at Burnley.”