By Dan Harrison

Martin O'Neill does not see the latest clash with Manchester United as a dress rehearsal for the Carling Cup final - insisting the league game has its own importance.

While the Villa boss accepts it would do his players' confidence no harm to chalk up a top-flight double over the champions, thoughts of gaining a psychological advantage ahead of the Wembley showpiece will not come into their thinking.

With United vying to retain their Barclays Premier League crown and Villa looking to compete with the chasing pack, O'Neill believes this week's encounter is equally as important as the cup final.

"Like everything else, if we can win this week and have two victories over them, certainly in terms of confidence it would give us a boost," he said.

"But if you are asking me about the game at Wembley, I think it will be different in terms of atmosphere, in terms of we are playing in a cup final.

"This is a very, very important league game and so from that viewpoint, I think the game itself will be a different type of match.

"However, it would do us no harm if we were going in having beaten them twice.

"This is another high intensity game. The preparation is normal - just getting a bit of rest, doing a little bit of light training and just getting ourselves prepared. But I think that is going to be the case really from here on in.

"With Manchester United as the opposition I don't think we'd be treating this as just another game."

The match is being billed as the top-flight's best defence against its most formidable attacking unit - and O'Neill does not need telling that his side face a tall order in stopping red-hot United forward, Wayne Rooney.

He admits his team's early season results against the so-called 'Big Four' - including the 1-0 win at Old Trafford in December - bode well.

But the manager knows it will not make things any easier, with the Red Devils hitting such outstanding form in recent weeks.

"Manchester United have been a good side now for a long time," said O'Neill.

"We played a few weeks before Christmas at Old Trafford and we did very well that day.

"Tomorrow is a different day. They are in great form. They are playing very well at the moment and Rooney in particular is playing brilliantly.

"But we're coming off the back of some very decent performances at Fulham and a hard-fought draw against Tottenham so we'll try and be prepared.

"In terms of confidence, our victories this season over quality opposition have been really good and a first victory over Manchester United for some quite considerable time as well.

"It gives the players the type of confidence boost necessary to play these games. Because it was a little while ago, the players maybe might look back on it, or they might not do.

"But really it is to do with proper preparation - mental and physical. We are ready for it.

"Manchester United are going brilliantly in the league and are a few points behind Chelsea.

"People are talking about it maybe being a two horse race again, with Arsenal suffering a couple of losses. I'm not sure if that might be the case or not - I really don't know. But It'll be a tough encounter for us."

There is no question who the claret and blues chief sees as the Reds' main threat. In fact, he rates Rooney as one of the top four players in world football.

O'Neill has plenty of admiration for the forward's attitude towards the game - and he is impressed by the way Rooney has shouldered extra responsibility in the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo's summer departure.

"I think he would be one of the top three or four players playing in the world at the moment," he added.

"I think he has taken on even more responsibility since Ronaldo left and he has thrived on it. He was doing an awful lot of work anyway on other sides of the field - right side, left hand side last year.

"He has gone to play centre-forward and I heard him say himself that he didn't feel he is a natural goalscorer. It's not too bad for a non-natural scorer - 20 goals at this stage of the season.

"But it is just everything about him. It is his great will to win, it is his enthusiasm and it is just his general passion allied to the great ability that he possesses."

Emile Heskey remains an injury doubt after the striker was forced out of Saturday's goalless draw at Tottenham with a groin problem.

The England international has been named in the provisional squad for the United game although he sat out training on Tuesday.

Watch Martin O'Neill's pre-match press conference in full on AVTV. If you don't subscribe, click the banner below.