04.12.08

It's another UEFA Cup night at Villa Park this evening - and if it's anything like our opening group stage game, it promises to be an absolute cracker.

It was such a memorable night against Ajax.

When Martin Laursen scored the opening goal, the roar in the ground was amazing. The guy sitting next to me in the Holte had to reach for his inhaler and sit down with a coughing fit because of all the excitement.

And the stand felt like it was rocking from all the jumping and cheering when Gareth hit the winner. It was incredible!

With the momentum of that win, Villa were able to beat Slavia Prague by a goal and end the Czech Republic team's unbeaten record in their new ground.

I have to admit I had not heard much about tonight's opponents MSK Zilina before the UEFA Cup draw.

But it's fair to say they must be wary of coming to Villa Park as they sit at the bottom of the group.

There are no easy games in football now though so we must be at our best to emerge victorious this evening.

There are some very good sides in the competition with the likes of AC Milan, CSKA Moscow, Galatasaray and Valencia very much involved.

But I truly believe Villa can go all the way!

Martin O'Neill knows what it takes to get to the final as does Carlos Cuellar who was there last year with Rangers.

Let's hope both can steer Villa to Istanbul later this season.

I think Carlos has played very well over the past few games and showed his tremendous versatility by slotting in at right-back when needed.

The same could be said for Luke Young, who has done really well at left-back.

Saying that, I'll be happy when one of my favourite players, Wilfred Bouma, returns to action.

I've been very pleased in the past week with Gareth Barry confirming he's going to be at the club for the rest of the season.

I think that his performances this season have been outstanding. In my opinion, his intercepting and passing have been better than any other midfielder in the league.

The match against Arsenal at the Emirates was one to savour - particularly as I spent a lot of my time with my Gunners pals before the game.

I travelled to the game with a mate who is an Arsenal season ticket holder. Along with the three other Villa fans I was with, we went to a pub full of home supporters before the game where the mood was one of real optimism. How wrong they were!

The atmosphere in the away end was fantastic and we all had a very memorable day watching Villa totally outplay Arsenal.

I thought Curtis Davies, in particular, was absolutely terrific in the centre of defence.

I think it goes without saying that the Arsenal-loving fans we knew didn't want to go for a drink after the game.

It's amazing because it was almost as if our Manchester United anxieties faded away that evening as our attention immediately turned to the next clash with the Red Devils.

I thought it was another good result for Villa, with a solid defensive display yet again.

A draw was a fair result but I agreed with Martin O'Neill's post-match analysis that Nemanja Vidic was lucky to see 90 minutes of action after his tussle with Gabby Agbonlahor.

The match against Fulham was a little frustrating but we need to look at the bigger picture - we're near the top of the league and in a very healthy position.

Up the Villa
Oliver Phelps