Birmingham Mail: GARETH Barry says Blues are running scared of Villa's attacking threat. And the in-demand England midfielder says Villa have a big psychological edge going into Sunday's derby. Villa have walloped 10 goals in two games to make it 62 for the season. "The impetus is with us and they will be fearing what we have got. We've got great attacking players and I'm sure they'll be worried about that," said Barry, who is buoyed by wins over Bolton and Derby. "We are at home, it is up to us to try and break them down and get the goals. On the back of two great wins we go into the game confident. "And, as the manager keeps saying to us, we can't let the season fizzle out. "There is so much to play for and those two results have set it up nicely. "We'll take one game at a time but if we can beat Birmingham and go up to Everton and get a result it will be all to play for."

Birmingham Mail: NIGEL Reo-Coker has been given a licence to thrill for Villa, with Martin O'Neill believing he has found the right midfield balance to suit his £8million summer signing. The former West Ham ace has revelled in his role alongside Gareth Barry since Stiliyan Petrov was brought back into the team. The Bulgarian has been deployed in a deeper position, leaving ReoCoker and Ashley Young the chance to roam. Manager O'Neill has delighted in his tactical switch. He said: "When we played three midfield players I thought Nigel might want to do the holding role. "But then when we went into two, I dispute that anyone can be a holding midfield player. "What you do, as Nigel did alongside Gareth Barry, was Gareth was foraging forward and naturally you stay out of it. "But if you are going forward, then Gareth can stay back. But no-one was given a holding role when we played with a two with Shaun Maloney and Ashley Young out wide. "But now with the three, with Stiliyan in a fixed central midfield position, the licence is for Nigel to go. "And I thought that second half at Derby he was fantastic and driving forward with the ball, which was terrific."

Birmingham Mail: MARTIN O'Neill has told his players to 'button it' as he takes a careful approach to Sunday's derby by gagging his squad. Only skipper Gareth Barry will join O'Neill in speaking publicly about the derby with both set to face the media on Friday. O'Neill has been made aware that certain comments from Olof Mellberg were taken a little out of context five years ago, with the Swede then repeating them in a TV interview some years later. Even a newspaper cloumn in a weekly paper by Zat Knight has been pulled. O'Neill said: "Nobody will be doing anything. All it needs is a silly little line mis-placed or whatever the case may be- especially from players. "They'll maybe think nobody will ever read it, but in this day and age there is no point in inflaming anything. "We are well aware of how important the game is."

Birmingham Mail: MARTIN O'Neill says he is happy to see his players continue to share goals but admits a proven goalscorer would add even more punch to an already weighty attack. Villa have notched 62 league goals this season - that's ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea and only two less than Arsenal and one fewer than Totenham, who are all lagging behind free-scoring Manchester United. Ten-goal John Carew remains at the top of the goalscoring charts ahead of Gabby Agbonlahor (9), Gareth Barry (8), Martin Laursen (6) and Marlon Harewood and Ashley Young (5). O'Neill said: "Generally speaking we have shared the goals around a bit. "Now, wouldn't it be phenomenal having somebody stand out? Somebody scoring 20-odd league goals a season, especially this year where people like Fernando Torres and Ronaldo have scored a lot of goals."

Express and Star: Martin O'Neill won't rely on Gareth Barry's blind loyalty to Villa to keep him at the club. Reports of Liverpool sizing a £12m bid for Villa's captainrocked the club and shocked boss O'Neill. Dwight Yorke was the last Villa player to leave for one of the 'big four' when he joined Manchester United for a club record sale of £12.6m in August 1998. Yorke became so unsettled by the constant speculation that it affected his game, while then boss John Gregory was so incensed he said he'd have shot the striker. O'Neill said: "I'm not going to presume on players' good nature to stay around if they don't want to stay.I don't want to presume anyone is loving it here or not until I sit down with them."

Birmingham Mail: ALEX McLeish is hoping he can again become a thorn in Martin O'Neill's side when they face each other in the Birmingham derby for the first time on Sunday. In Glasgow, McLeish revived Rangers fortunes and enjoyed a healthy degree of success against O'Neill's Celtic. In fact, McLeish won more trophies than O'Neill (seven to four) when their managerial careers overlapped in the SPL. "In the time frame, yes, if you're talking about head-to-head," said the Blues boss. "But Martin can point out that they went on a record seven-game winning streak against us which, obviously, when you are associated with a club like Rangers is a bit of a killer, embarrassing. "The first seven games we played against them I think we were undefeated. Before that Martin was wiping the floor with Dick Advocaat's team."

Express and Star: Nigel Reo-Coker has been given licence by Villa boss Martin O'Neill to join his big-scoring team-mates and hit the goals trail. Villa head into Sunday's Second City derby against Birmingham having scored 62 goals this season, a total bettered only by Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham. Top scorer John Carew has 10, but five other players - Gabriel Agbonlahor, Martin Laursen, Gareth Barry, Ashley Young and Marlon Harewood - have five or more. Reo-Coker has yet to score for Villa in the Premier League, his only strike coming in the Carling Cup win over Wrexham in August. In fact, the £8m signing from West Ham is the only outfield regular not to have notched for Villa this season. "If Nigel Reo-Coker feels he can go box-to-box, he has to have the composure to finish," said O'Neill. "With the way we are playing where Stiliyan Petrov is in a fixed role, there's licence for Nigel to go At Derby he was fantastic in the second half. He was driving forward with the ball, which was terrific."

Sporting Life: Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill will refuse to give up hope of qualifying for Europe - even if Everton beat Chelsea on Thursday. O'Neill's side could have closed the gap on the Toffees to three points by Sunday if Chelsea are triumphant on Merseyside and Villa dispose of struggling Birmingham 72 hours later. And O'Neill has challenged his side to maintain the form which has brought them six points and 10 goals from the last two games in their bid to earn a UEFA Cup spot. He said: "Everton have got a big game against Chelsea tonight and we'll know on Sunday what we have to do. It's a big game and, while we still have a chance, let's keep going for it. "Even if Everton beat Chelsea tonight, they still have to go to Arsenal and entertain Newcastle. "When we had the dip in form and results, we didn't give up on Europe. That didn't mask the disappointment that we didn't play well and dropped points. "But we didn't really listen to people who said that was the end of it as far as Europe was concerned."

Sky Sports: Martin O'Neill will not give up on his European dream, even if Aston Villa fall nine points behind rivals Everton. The Toffees could extend their advantage over Villa in the race for a Uefa Cup spot by beating Chelsea on Thursday night, live on Sky Sports 1. Villa would then have just four matches to overhaul fifth-placed Everton, but O'Neill is refusing to concede defeat in the battle to bring European football to the club next season. "Everton have got a big game against Chelsea tonight and we'll know on Sunday what we have to do," O'Neill told the club's official website. "It's a big game and, while we still have a chance, let's keep going for it. "Even if Everton beat Chelsea tonight, they still have to go to Arsenal and entertain Newcastle. "When we had the dip in form and results, we didn't give up on Europe. That didn't mask the disappointment that we didn't play well and dropped points. "But we didn't really listen to people who said that was the end of it as far as Europe was concerned."