Birmingham Mail: Villa keeper Brad Guzan has thanked Shay Given for his support after putting his own first-team form down to picking his experienced understudy's brain. Guzan has been Paul Lambert's preferred Premier League stopper for the past 13 matches since ousting Given for the draw at Newcastle in early September.

Birmingham Mail: Derrick Williams is targeting a Villa Park debut after admitting he was "star-struck" on his Premier League bow. The 19-year-old defender acquitted himself well after coming on as a substitute in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Queens Park Rangers.

Daily Mail: Aston Villa, Newcastle and Norwich will have FC Cluj winger Modou Sougou watched at Manchester United tonight. Sougou, 27, impressed against United in October and caught the eye again, scoring against Galatasaray last month.

Sportal Australia: Australian Aston Villa midfielder Brett Holman says that his goal against QPR has given him the confidence to add to his tally. The Australian's strike against QPR in last weekend's 1-1 draw was his first for the club after moving to England on a free transfer from AZ Alkmaar, and he now hopes to pitch in more and ease the burden on the likes of striker Christian Benteke.

Best Of The Rest

Mirror: Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is plotting a January raid on old club Southampton for midfielder Adam Lallana.

Daily Mail: David Beckham has been earmarked as the prospective owner of an emerging Miami-based MLS franchise.

BBC Sport: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says he is not embarrassed by his side's miserable European campaign.

*The extracts on this page are taken from various newspapers and media outlets. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Aston Villa.