Osman's Villa Warning

Ossie warns that Villa will be smarting after two hard defeats.

Leon Osman has warned his everton teammates that Aston Villa will be smarting after two harrowing defeats.

Managerless Villa lost 6-0 to Newcastle last weekend before crashing out of Europe on Thursday night with a 3-2 home defeat to Rapid Vienna.

But Osman, who was hailed as an unsung hero after his performance against Huddersfield this week, is urging the Toffees to beware the wounded animal.

"That result they had at the weekend probably makes it more difficult for us," he said.

"They will be a bit wounded and will want to come out and show it was a one-off.

"We are going in there confident and hopefully we can come away with the right result.

"It has not been the perfect start so the sooner we put that right the better."

Osman was skipper for Wednesday's 5-1 win as some of the Blues' young guns came to the fore.

He knows what it takes to break through into the first team and is delighted at the level of competition they likes of Jack Rodwell and Seamus Coleman are providing.

Osman added: "It is great to see them putting in performances like they did on Wednesday. It is credit to them and the youth department and the Club.

"The competition is a good thing. The manager wants those headaches and it's up to us to make his team selection as hard as possible."