O'Leary joy at Milner return

David O'Leary is delighted to have James Milner back for the game against Birmingham.

David O'Leary is delighted to have James Milner back for Aston Villa's game against Birmingham.

The on-loan Newcastle winger has been one of the few success stories of a disappointing season for Villa, but has been sidelined for the last five weeks with a virus.

During his absence things have gone from bad to worse for O'Leary's side, with a series of poor results increasing the pressure on everyone at the club, most notably the manager.

But O'Leary is confident that Milner can help Villa end the season on a high, starting with the potentially dangerous Midlands derby, which could suck them into the relegation battle should they lose.

Fellow midfielder Gareth Barry is also available after recovering from a knee injury, and will bolster the team which drew 0-0 with West Brom last week.

"James is a really good player for us," said the Irishman, who first worked with the 20-year-old at Leeds.

"You could ask Steve Bruce and I am sure he will say his team are better when he gets his best players back. I heard Stuart Pearce saying they've had a blip at Manchester City because they have lost a lot of vital players.

"Equally, when James is in our team, we have been a better team. We are a better team when we have a James Milner and a Gareth Barry in it.

"We have a good chance of having them back for Sunday and that makes us stronger than last week when we had a very young side against a very experienced West Brom team."