Manchester United Fans Club

Craig Gardner has revealed his desire to remain Aston Villa’s deadball expert as he set himself a 10-goal target ahead of the clash with Manchester United at Villa Park. Gardner has scored with free-kicks from the edge of the penalty area in Villa’s last two games with Tottenham and West Ham.

He faces competition from the likes of skipper Gareth Barry and Shaun Maloney for the role but is hopeful of being retained against the Red Devils as Villa seek a fifth successive home league win. Gardner, who is confident of shaking off a groin strain to face United, told PA Sport: “It was nice to get on the scoresheet twice in five days, but I want to get around the 10 goal mark for the season.

“Overall, that’s two in eight league games now for me this season so it can be done. I’ve scored with basically the same free-kick both times, driven hard and low, but I am sure I will score other sorts of goals as well, maybe bend one into the top corner!

“I admire David Beckham as a deadball specialist and, amongst the players now at Villa, Shaun Maloney is unbelievable at free-kicks as well. “But I’ve scored two in two so I’m not moving away from that ball for the next one.

“Myself and Shaun do a lot of practice but, when it comes to games, it is different when you’ve got a big wall lined up in front of you, the crowd all around you plus the goalkeeper to try and beat. “I expect to score from every free-kick. If they don’t go in, I am disappointed. I am sure I’ll take more.”

Gardner has immense respect for United but believes Villa have shown already that they can be a force to be reckoned with this season.

He added: “It is no longer a shock if Villa beat a good side. We beat Chelsea, we drew at Tottenham, who are a good side despite their poor start, and we beat West Ham. “Why can’t we get a result out of Manchester United. We beat Chelsea. Let’s go and do it.”

Villa manager Martin O’Neill is unlikely to make any major changes with striker John Carew not ready to return from his knee ligament injury.

Meanwhile, Paul Scholes still expects Chelsea to be among Manchester United’s major Barclays Premier League title rivals this season.

After an unexpectedly troublesome start to the campaign - and the shock exit of manager Jose Mourinho, the Blues currently find themselves seven points behind early pacesetters Arsenal and in an unaccustomed seventh spot.

Their problems have not lessened during the international break either, with both skipper John Terry and Ashley Cole picking up injuries on England duty. Yet, Scholes is cautioning against writing Chelsea off too soon, especially now Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard are back.

“Having big names like Drogba and Lampard back will make a massive difference to Chelsea,” he said. “They both have a big influence, which is why Chelsea struggled to win without them. “One they are settled in the team again, I am sure they will be up there challenging.”

Scholes also expects Arsenal to maintain their early momentum and Liverpool to find more form, so in his eyes the championship race could turn out to be a close-run thing. The 32-year-old certainly expects United to be heavily involved, especially now they have put a bad start behind them with a run of six straight wins they hope to make seven at Villa.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed Owen Hargreaves is still two weeks away from a comeback after an injection to treat tendinitis in his knee.

Gary Neville (calf) and Louis Saha (knee) will also sit out the trip to Villa. John O’Shea (thigh) and Nemanja Vidic (concussion), who were both forced off during United’s win over Wigan a fortnight ago, should be available, along with Edwin van der Sar (toe) as United look to record a seventh straight Premier League win without conceding a goal.

Source: www.soccernet.com