Most of Villa's key players should be raring to go after being rested for the midweek UEFA Cup clash in Moscow.
O'Neill left Gareth Barry, Brad Friedel, Emile Heskey, James Milner, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Carlos Cuellar and Stiliyan Petrov at home in an attempt to have them fresh for this weekend's game.Wilfred Bouma is close to a first-team return after six months out of action with a broken ankle but will not be risked against the Potters, while Nigel Reo-Coker (hamstring) and Martin Laursen (knee) also miss out.Meanwhile, Stoke's season is starting to unravel and they go into this weekend's fixtures only two points above the drop-zone.
They have failed to win any of their 13 matches away from the Britannia Stadium this term and let two points slip out of their grasp when they conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in last weekend's 2-2 draw with Portsmouth.
