Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has confirmed the club are to offer James Milner a new deal in the summer.

Milner signed a four-year deal when he joined Villa from Newcastle in the summer of 2008.

The former Leeds ace has enjoyed a fantastic season for Villa this season after being moved into a central midfield role and he is expected to be part of Fabio Capello's England World Cup squad.

Villa are now ready to tie down Milner to a new long-term bumper deal to ward off potential suitors.

"I said to James couple of months ago that we would sit down in the summer about a new contract, regardless of whether he plays for England or not (at the World Cup)," said O'Neill.

"He is playing so well, it would be important that we do something if we can. By the time the summer arrives, he would be exactly halfway through his contract so it is not a bad time to do something.

"We will sit down in the summer, I said that way back before January. I said it to his agent. That is fine. They have never pushed or asked for anything and they are absolutely okay with that.

"This is not because of what he may or may not do for England. Everything that he does in an England shirt at the World Cup - if he goes to it and I'm sure he will - may eventually have a determining factor on it.

"But the idea of sitting down with James regarding his contract is because of what he has done for us."

O'Neill has been delighted with the way Milner has successfully switched from a wide right role into a central midfield slot during the past few months.

"Without doubt, James has been fantastic. I thought his performance on Tuesday night at Wigan defied belief," added O'Neill.

"I actually said to him in the summer that central midfield is where I could see him playing. I know sometimes when you are wide you are depending on other people getting you the service.

"I felt James had more to offer than just playing wide left or wide right. He did it very well for us but I felt he could come and play in midfield.

"I am pleased that we have done it because it has given him more options and in a World Cup year it has thrust him right into the forefront of things when he has absolutely excelled."

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce will offer an olive branch to Tottenham in a bid to land Alan Hutton.

Scotland international Hutton has impressed on a short-term loan from White Hart Lane, and Bruce is keen to seal a £6m deal for the full-back in the summer.

Transfer talks promise to be tense due to the bad blood between the clubs after Darren Bent's protracted £10m move to Wearside last year.

The Black Cats' 19-goal record signing was forced to issue a grovelling apology after using his Twitter account to accuse Spurs chairman Daniel Levy of dragging his heels in a bid to scupper a move as frustrations ran high on both sides at the slow progress of talks.
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Bruce hopes time has helped to heal the rift, but is ready to act as peacemaker to smooth his pursuit of £28,000-a-week Hutton, who has been on the losing side just once in his six appearances for the Wearsiders.

Bruce said: "We have to respect Spurs. I've not spoken to Harry Redknapp about it but he was pretty desperate for him to get some football under his belt. If Alan is available then yes, I would be interested.

"He's done particularly well for us. He's an excellent player who has fitted in really well."

England striker Jermain Defoe has been ruled out for a "few weeks" after suffering a grade-two tear to one of his hamstrings, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp confirmed today.

Defoe is Spurs' leading scorer this season with 23 goals in all competitions.

He joins an already lengthy injury list at White Hart Lane with Redknapp currently without Tom Huddlestone, David Bentley, Aaron Lennon, Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate.

Redknapp confirmed: "It's a grade-two tear but it will be a few weeks. He is struggling."
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Redknapp also revealed injuries to Kyle Walker (arm) and Danny Rose (knee), which limits his options ahead of the Barclays Premier League trip to Stoke this weekend.

Arsenal will face European champions Barcelona, while Manchester United have drawn Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals.

Arsene Wenger's young team face a massive test against Barcelona. For United, manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be satisfied, but wary, of facing German giants Bayern Munich.

French fans will be upset with Lyon being paired against Bordeaux.

And in the final draw, Inter Milan faces CSKA Moscow.


For the semifinals, it was settled:

Bayern/Man United v Lyon/Bordeaux

and

Inter/CSKA Moscow v Arsenal/Barcelona

Today's draw sets up the prospect of last year's finalists Manchester United and Barcelona facing eachother again in Madrid.

Fulham's reward for their stunning victory over Juventus is a Europa League quarter-final with German side Wolfsburg.

Clint Dempsey celebrates his amazing winner as Fulham sent Juventus out

Roy Hodgson's side recovered from losing the first leg 3-1 and conceding an early goal in the second leg at Craven Cottage to secure a memorable 5-4 aggregate win over the Italian giants.

They were drawn to face Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg in the last eight, with the first leg at home and a potential semi-final against either Hamburg or Standard Liege to follow.

In the other quarter-finals, Liverpool take on Portuguese side Benfica with the second leg at Anfield.

The winner of that tie will face the winner of the all-Spanish tie between Valencia and Atletico Madrid.

Liverpool lost the first leg 1-0 to Lille in the previous round but goals from Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres (two) at Anfield kept their hopes of silverware this season alive.

QUARTER-FINALS: April 1 & 8
Fulham v Wolfsburg
Hamburg v Standard Liege
Valencia v Atletico Madrid
Benfica v Liverpool

SEMI-FINALS: April 22 & 29
Hamburg or Standard Liege v Fulham or Wolfsburg
Valencia or Atletico Madrid v Benfica or Liverpool

The 29-year-old midfielder, who has undergone double knee surgery since his last competitive outing against Chelsea in September 2008, emerged unscathed from 45 minutes against Burnley reserves at Altrincham’s Moss Lane ground.

Hargreaves produced an energetic performance before being replaced and, with England’s World Cup opener against the USA just 85 days away, he admits that he is remains hopeful of returning to senior action for club and country this season.

Hargreaves said: “This was the first step in what has been an incredibly long ordeal and I am very happy to be back.

"It was nice to play in a match with a referee and proper opponents on a proper pitch!

“The World Cup? It’s there, but how it will materialise, I don’t know. I’d love to have the opportunity to play again for England, but I’ll have to see how I progress.

“If I’m there, I’m there. I would love to help."

Hargreaves is now set to play again for the reserves, again against Burnley, at Accrington next Thursday.

He said: “Ideally I would like to play as soon as possible for the first-team. That has been my target from day one and I have geared my rehab around that.

“Obviously it didn’t materialise that way and you have to re-evaluate, but I’m fit and I’ve been training incredibly hard.

“I’ve missed games and not been able to have an impact, so it’s unfinished business for me.”

Arsenal captain Fabregas has been out since March 6 - missing the matches with Porto and Hull - due to a hamstring injury but is expected to pass a fitness test tomorrow morning.

Tomas Rosicky is also anticipated to be fit following a groin problem, but defender William Gallas has "an endless calf injury", according to Wenger.

Gallas has missed the last six games and is set to be out for at least two more matches - missing the West Ham match and the game at Birmingham on March 27.

"Cesc and Tomas have a final test tomorrow morning," Wenger said. "They should be available for Saturday.

"From the last game we don't lose anybody. So normally we should have Fabregas, Carlos Vela and Rosicky back. Plus of course we have Song coming back from suspension.

"However, William Gallas will not be available this week or at Birmingham. It is going on and on. It is a concern.

"It is an endless calf strain and so we need Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre to be highly ready to help us out."

Alex Song will be back from a two-match suspension against West Ham and Carlos Vela could be added to the squad as Arsenal seek to enhance their title bid after their last-gasp 2-1 win at Hull last weekend.

Fulham overturned a three-goal aggregate deficit to beat Juventus 4-1 and reach the quarterfinals of the Europa League on Thursday, and David Villa's hat trick helped Valencia advance after a 4-4 draw at Werder Bremen.

Liverpool beat Lille 3-0 and Benfica scored a last-minute winner at Marseille to win 2-1 and also join Atletico Madrid, Hamburg and Standard Liege in Friday's draw.

Sergio Aguero's two goals in a 2-2 draw with Sporting Lisbon put Atletico through on away goals, and Hamburg made it 6-5 on aggregate despite losing 4-3 at Anderlecht.
FOX SPORTS POLL

*
Who will win the Europa League this season?
o Liverpool
o Hamburg
o Atletico Madrid
o Valencia
o Fulham
o Standard Liege
o Wolfsburg
o Benfica



A high-scoring night in the last 16 of European football's second-tier competition brought some dramatic and surprising results.

Juventus' David Trezeguet scored in the second minute at Craven Cottage to open up a big advantage for the Italian team, which won the first leg 3-1 in Turin.

But Bobby Zamora equalized on the night and, after Juve defender Fabio Cannavaro had been sent off in the 28th minute, two goals by Zoltan Gera opened a 3-1 lead for the home team and put the sides level at 4-4 overall.

With extra time looming, Fulham's Clint Dempsey collected the ball outside the area and turned to lob a 20-meter (yard) shot over the goalkeeper and inside the far post.

"Nine times out of 10 it won't make it, but you've got to take a risk and fortunately enough it worked out tonight," Dempsey said of his goal. "We conceded early in the game but showed a lot of heart and a lot of character to fight back, and now we're through to the next round."

The five goals at Fulham were beaten by eight in Bremen.

The two sides started level at 1-1 from the first leg, but Valencia led 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3 with Juan Mata's goal adding to Villa's three.

But Bremen never gave in with Hugo Almeida, Torsten Frings, Marko Marin and Claudio Pizarro finding the net for the hosts.

A seven-goal thriller in Brussels ended with another team scoring four times yet going out.

Hamburg was already 3-1 up when Jerome Boateng increased the lead in the 42nd minute.

But Romelu Lukaku, Matias Suarez, Lucas Biglia and Mbark Boussoufa all scored for Anderlecht for a 4-2 lead on the night - only for Mladen Petric to add a third for Hamburg as the Bundesliga side, which will host the May 12 final, got through.

Benfica's Maxi Pereira equalized following Mamadou Niang's goal for Marseille and the game appeared headed for extra time at 2-2. But Brazilian striker Alan Kardec's angled shot beat the goalkeeper for Benfica's 100th league and cup goal of the season.

Marseille had substitute Hatem Ben Arfa sent off in the final minute.

Already 3-1 up from the away leg in Athens, Standard Liege beat Panathinaikos 1-0 after a solo goal from Dieudonne Mbokani.

German champion Wolfsburg and Russia's Rubin Kazan went into extra time at 1-1 with the two sides level 2-2 on aggregate. In the extra time session though, Wolves' Christian Gentner scored to put the Bundesliga champions into the quarterfinals.

Totteham star Aaron Lennon is targeting a first-team return against Chelsea as he gets set to step up his training next week.

The flying winger is expected to resume light running next week and hopes to be available for Spurs' clash with the Blues on April 17.

Lennon suffered an injury setback last month, having already been sidelined for two months after suffering tears in his groin muscles.

Manager Harry Redknapp has previously stated that Lennon was 'quite a way off' being fit, with the start of the World Cup now less than three months away.
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The White Hart Lane chief, however, is now hoping the ex-Leeds star will play again for Spurs before the end of the season.

The news will also come as a major boost to Engand boss Fabio Capello as he begins his final preparations for South Africa.

The Italian lost David Beckham earlier this week after the former England skipper ruptured his Achilles tendon, so Lennon's return will increase his options on the right flank.

David Bentley is ready to give Tottenham a huge fitness boost - and has not given up on forcing his way into England's World Cup squad.

Fit-again Bentley is back in full training after a groin injury and is desperate to return for the trip to Stoke this weekend.

Bentley, 25, has rediscovered his form and fitness and is still on Fabio Capello's radar, especially because of England's worrying injury problems on the right wing.

Arsenal's fit-again Theo Walcott is back in form and is at the front of the queue after winning back his place in England's set-up for the friendly with Egypt earlier in the month.
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But Capello has now lost former England captain David Beckham, 34, because of the Achilles injury he suffered on Sunday night while playing for AC Milan.

Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon, who appeared to be the front runner on the right, is still recovering from a groin injury.

Worryingly for Tottenham's Champions League chances and England, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp still does not know when Lennon will return, although the pint-sized winger is expected to start light running next week and is confident of playing before the end of the season and.

Shaun Wright-Phillips is also in the running, but is not guaranteed a place at Manchester City, and Capello would prefer width on the right to balance his team and that may yet present an opportunity for born-again Bentley.

Bentley has won seven caps and has played under Capello, but not since the friendly with the Czech Republic in August 2008.

His career went into freefall at Tottenham after losing his place in the Spurs team under Redknapp.

Bentley thought he was on his way out of White Hart Lane until January when Redknapp gave him another chance and snubbed interest from West Ham.

Ex-Arsenal trainee Bentley has since then played well, rediscovered his form and has now got a future at Tottenham - and potentially with England.

Capello and his assistant Franco Baldini kept tabs on Bentley for the friendly with Egypt and considered calling him up.

That would have marked a remarkable return for Bentley, but a groin injury has slowed his progress.

Yet despite Bentley's difficult season, his performances earned him rave reviews and even a tip for an England recall from Mirror columnist and former Blackburn team-mate Robbie Savage.

The day I gave David Bentley an England call-up, plus Bruce will turn Sunderland around and how Johnson and Moses can make it in the Prem

Capello's problems down the right have now given Arsenal winger Walcott, 21, another chance to regain his England place.

But it has also opened the door for Bentley and, despite only just forcing his way back in at Spurs, the midfielder is desperate to play for his country again.

That seemed impossible a few months ago, but if Bentley can regain his form, fitness and performances he may yet get another chance.

Capello will keep tabs on his right sided options until the end of the season before he names his 30-man squad at the end of May.