Aston Villa v Bolton preview

O'Neill: Home comforts

PREDICTIONS:

Skysports.com prediction: Aston Villa 2 Bolton 1

SKYBET odds: Aston Villa 8/11, Draw 5/2, Bolton 4/1

One to watch: Gary Cahill

Aston Villa to win 2-1 7/1 or Cahill to score first 25/1Bet on the match

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Aston Villa will be looking to make home comforts count when Bolton come to town on Saturday.

Martin O'Neill's side make the welcome return to Villa Park in Premier League action after denying themselves a spot in the top-four with several nose-bleeds on their travels.

Not since mid October, in the 2-1 home win over title contenders Chelsea, have Villa managed to taste victory in the league after a tough fixture list that has seen the West Midlands outfit play away three games in a row.

Those journeys, which included 1-1 draws with neighbours Wolves and European rivals Everton, have yielded just two points out of a possible six after Wednesday's disappointing 2-1 defeat at West Ham.

O'Neill, who felt aggrieved by the Hammers loss that saw Ashley Young miss a penalty before being undone by a late Zavon Hines goal, must now make their home form count if they are to realise their UEFA Champions League ambitions.

But the Villains will be without skipper Stiliyan Petrov and defender Habib Beye through suspension for Saturday's clash against the Trotters.

Petrov collected his fifth booking of the campaign during the midweek defeat at West Ham - a game in which Beye was also sent off.

Nigel Reo-Coker will be a strong candidate to replace Petrov after impressing as a substitute against his former club while right-back Carlos Cuellar will return after a one-game ban and is likely to be preferred over Luke Young to take over from Beye.

Striker Emile Heskey (back), winger James Milner (calf) and midfielder Craig Gardner (groin) are major doubts for the meeting with the Trotters so Fabien Delph could come into the side to make a rare appearance should one of those fail to prove their fitness.

Bolton team-news

Bolton, meanwhile, will be hoping for better fortunes after also suffering a tough run-in of late.

Gary Megson's side have only one win in their last five, but the Trotters boss was pleased with his team's input against Chelsea last weekend, despite falling to a 4-0 defeat at the Reebok.

The sending off of Jlloyd Samuel was largely responsible for the scoreline, as the hosts were seemingly keeping the Blues at bay until the defender brought striker Didier Drogba down in the penalty area on the brink of half-time.

Former Villa man Samuel will subsequently miss the chance to return to his former stomping ground, but the fixture offers the chance for Gary Cahill and Zat Knight to get one over their old employers.

Bolton's centre-back pair will treat the weekend affair like visiting an ex-girlfriend, both Cahill and Knight will recall the good times of scoring in Villa Park wins, only to get the feeling of being dumped by former boss O'Neill.

So expect the pair to be fired up for the game, as will on-loan full-back Paul Robinson - previously of Villa's derby rivals West Brom - who is set to start his first game for the Trotters since August to deputise for the suspended Samuel.

Megson revealed in Thursday's pre-match press conference that defender Danny Shittu and forward Riga Mustapha are slight doubts with hamstring trouble, while Joey O'Brien and Sean Davis remain long-term injury absentees.

Matthew Taylor was a shock omission from the line-up last weekend as Megson opted for two men up top, but expect the winger to return in a five man midfield, leaving the Trotters boss facing a dilemma with regards to his attacking options.

Johan Elmander, Ivan Klasnic and skipper Kevin Davies are all pressing for a starting berth after confident displays but Davies could get the nod being the Lancashire outfit's top scorer this season with four goals.

Possible starting XIs:

Aston Villa:Friedel, Warnock, Collins, Dunne, Cuellar, Young, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Heskey, Agbonlahor, Carew.

Bolton:Jaaskelainen, Robinson, Knight, Cahill, Ricketts, Taylor, Muamba, Cohen, Lee, Gardner, Davies.