Martin O'Neill knows there will be added spice to Sunday's last day showdown for two of his players - former West Ham pair Nigel Reo-Coker and Marlon Harewood.

The duo, who left Upton Park under a cloud last summer, make their first return to the Hammers as Villa chase European qualification.

And O'Neill knows there is always something special for players returning to former clubs.

The Villa boss told www.avfc.co.uk: "Nigel and Marlon return to their former club at what could be a dramatic time and they will be looking to justify the move to Villa by qualifying for Europe.

"Maybe they'll get booed, but they're big enough to handle that. Frank Lampard gets booed every time he goes back and he just gets on with it.

"I think that Nigel in particular got blamed for a lot of things down there. I'm a distance away so you don't really know, but he felt that he was unfairly treated. All I know is that Sunday is a day to perform - for both of them.

"The pair of them would desperately want to win, whoever we were up against. But the fact it's their former club adds something to it - I don't think you can deny that.

"For us as a team winning the game is important but for Nigel and Marlon I would have thought it is particularly important to them."

Tune into AVTV Online for all the build-up to Sunday's vital game.