Isaiah Osbourne To Sign Soon

Martin O’Neill has said he hopes young midfielder Isaiah Osbourne will sign a new contract in the next few weeks.

Osbourne, who set up a Chris Sutton goal at the weekend with a sublime cross, says his hero was Patrick Vieira and hopes to emulate him at Villa Park. That’ll do for us!

O’Neill said: ‘I would hope, certainly within the next fortnight, to have sorted that out. I started to talk to his agent even before he had broken through into the first team. I think that Isaiah would definitely want to stay here and there is no better place for him at the moment.’

Osbourne also has a chance of featuring this Sunday as Gavin McCann is suspended but the Villa boss doesn’t want to over stress the 18-year-old.

‘It will take me a day or two before I start looking ahead. I wouldn’t want to put a load of pressure on him. It seems strange to play three games and then be asking to put him under pressure. I’ve got a lot of time for him. He think he has ability, I thought he improved and certainly he was more comfortable in Saturday’s surrounds than, obviously, a couple of weeks earlier at Anfield. That is to his eternal credit. I think he has got a chance. But asking him to go and do a few things that at this minute are a wee bit foreign to him, might be asking a lot.’

Adding ‘Just let him go and play. I think he will attempt to do what you ask him to do, and at the minute that is good enough.’