Express and Star: Zat Knight has targeted back-to-back home wins to put Villa's surprise Champions League tilt back on course next week. Villa haven't got a game this weekend and host Middlesbrough on Wednesday as they bid to claw back Everton and Liverpool. The Merseyside pair are now five points clear of Martin O'Neill's sixth-placed side after Liverpool's 4-0 thumping of West Ham on Wednesday. Knight has returned to the spotlight as he's expected to replace ruptured Achilles victim Curtis Davies. He said: "We haven't got a game until Wednesday and hopefully we can rest up for the final push. We need to get the points against Middlesbrough and Sunderland. "If we can get those six points then we can go to Old Trafford with confidence high. "That's our hardest remaining game. If we can go there and get something, we'll still be in the hunt."

Birmingham Mail: ZAT Knight has refused to give up on a top-four finish as he called for one final push from his Aston Villa team-mates in their quest for European football. And the back-in-frame defender already has one eye on their trip to Manchester United at the end of the month. Villa could fall eight points behind both Everton and Liverpool by the end of the weekend, but Knight says back-to-back home wins over Middlesbrough and Sunderland, which sandwich their trip to Portsmouth, would see Martin O'Neill's side back on track. Knight said: "We haven't got a game for five days and hopefully we can rest up over the weekend for the final push. "Then we need to get the points against Middlesbrough and Sunderland. If we can get the six points then we can go to Old Trafford with confidence high. "That's our hardest remaining game. If we can go there and get something, we'll still be in the hunt."

Sporting Life: Gareth Barry has insisted a club of Aston Villa's calibre should be playing European football on a regular basis. Captain Barry has to go back a decade to his debut season after moving from Brighton for the last time Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup via a top-six placing in the Barclays Premier League. Since then the only time time the midlands club have taken part in the competition was after winning the Intertoto Cup in 2001, and then they exited the at the first hurdle to Croatian side NK Varteks. Barry is keen to emulate those days when playing in European every season was almost taken for granted at Villa Park. The 27-year-old said: "We last qualified for Europe via the league 10 years ago and it has been too long. Hopefully this year we will get back where we want to be. "Aston Villa has got to be back up there getting automatic qualification and finishing top six or seven in the Premier League on a regular basis. "European football should be part of this club again and it has been a long time since the club has been consistently up there challenging. "It has been a case of one season up there competing, then back down again the following year, and we want to make sure Aston Villa is part of European football regularly."

Soccerway.com (USA): Gareth Barry has hailed midfield partner Nigel Reo-Coker as the unsung hero as Aston Villa eye a European spot. Barry has consistently turned in man-of-the-match performances which have helped Martin O'Neill's side into the top six of the Barclays Premier League. But Barry is quick to recognise the contribution of Reo-Coker who operates in a deeper role, which in turn gives him licence to get further forward. The England midfielder said: "We are different sorts of players. Generally Nigel plays a deeper role. He does get forward a bit but, rather than try and play the killer ball, he will find me and hopefully I can get it up to the other lads. We compliment each other very well and I think it is going very well. We both work hard to try to get the ball back although Nigel's role is one that won't get him the headlines."