Express & Star: Villa boss Martin O'Neill believes Zat Knight is improving as a defender and ready for the expected challenge to his place in the summer. O'Neill is set to spend big to boost his defensive options with Olof Mellberg joining Juventus and Curtis Davies out until at least October. But O'Neill has revealed Knight is ready to respond by stepping up his game. "Zat did very well on Saturday and his attitude in the reserves last week was really top class," said O'Neill. "He coped with the disappointment of missing out against Manchester United to play very well in the reserves 48 hours later. "He'll be aware that the competition at the club will be something I want to intensify in the summer."

Express & Star: Villa have had no contact from Chelsea over signing Thomas Sorensen on an emergency loan. Reports have linked the out-of-favour Dane with the Stamford Bridge club as they have Petr Cech out with a gashed face and Carlo Cudicini pulled a muscle in Tuesday's Champions League clash against Fenerbahce. Chelsea's only other senior keeper is Hilario, who has played 24 games in just under two seasons. Rotherham's Mark Oxley is one of a number of young keepers Villa are keeping tabs on, but reports of a £250,000 bid are inaccurate. No offer has been made.

Express & Star: Martin O'Neill believes the England captaincy could make Gareth Barry become an even bigger player for Villa. Barry has been linked with the armband as new boss Fabio Capello rotates captains looking for the ideal skipper. John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand have captained England under Capello so far. And Barry continues to be talked about as a potential skipper after cementing his place as a regular this year. O'Neill said: "They're talking about sharing around the armband until Fabio Capello finds the right one. "And if Gareth happened to get the England captaincy for 10 minutes it would be an enormous boost for him and great for everyone concerned - even if he was just passed the armband.

Setanta Sports: Martin O'Neill has signalled his intention to breathe fresh life into his Aston Villa defence in the summer. O'Neill will lose Olof Mellberg to Juventus at the end of the season, but it would appear the Ulsterman had already decided to tinker with his backline having seen them concede 44 goals - more than any other side in the top ten. "Defensively it's something we'll try and put right," he told the club's official website. "The opposition score too many goals as far as we're concerned. "The clean-sheet was nice to get - the first in 20 games. I think that's something we need to take into next season. "If we're going to progress and continue progressing in the manner we're doing, which is pretty pleasing, we're going to have to concede less goals."

Birmingham Mail: Nigel Reo-Coker will be treading a disciplinary tight-rope at Derby - but Martin O'Neill is not planning to curb the midfielder's aggression ahead of the game with Blues. Reo-Coker picked up his ninth booking of the season against Bolton and will earn a two-match ban if he is carded at Pride Park before a 10-card amnesty kicks in. O'Neill, though, says he will not be handing out special "cool it" instructions to the all-action midfield star. "If he survives the cut-off this Sunday then after next week, that's it," said O'Neill. "I wouldn't start thinking about Birmingham until we negotiate the Derby match," he added.

Birmingham Mail: Martin O'Neill today dismissed frequent speculation linking Chelsea with a move for his influential skipper Gareth Barry. And he backed the England midfielder to build on his sparkling form against Bolton by playing a major role in the club's run-in. Barry has for some time been linked in the media to a move to Stamford Bridge, partly fuelled by rumours that Frank Lampard is set to move overseas. But O'Neill is having none of it. He said: "I don't know where these stories come from. Gareth has another two years on his contract. "He's been linked with Chelsea for about two seasons, but no-one from Chelsea has ever contacted me about him and they have had a couple of managers (Mourinho and Grant) and the same chief executive (Peter Kenyon) during that time."

Birmingham Mail: Nigel Reo-Coker insists Villa cannot leave themselves with any regrets as they attempt to finish the season on a high with European qualification. Martin O'Neill's side are eight points behind Everton and four points off Portsmouth but are well placed to seal an InterToto passage ahead of the challenge of Blackburn and Manchester City. O'Neill has already insisted the aim is to win each of their remaining five fixtures, and Reo-Coker agrees. "Towards the latter stages of the season four or five wins on the bounce can be the difference between finishing sixth or seventh or in mid-table," the midfielder said. "I think it's important we realise how crucial the next five games are."

Birmingham Mail: Zat Knight was today handed a big vote of confidence by Martin O'Neill - but the defender was also urged to take advantage of advances in sports science to learn how to cope with the movement of nippy strikers. The 27-year-old centre-back has been told by O'Neill it is never too late to learn new tricks.