It has been announced a little earlier that Manchester United will play in there home kit, while Villa will be wearing there away kit for the Carling Cup Final.

Also, the referee of the game was also named. Staffordshire based Phil Dowd will be the man in charge of our fortunes that day, can’t say im do impressed by the decision. Theres only one referee i would say is worth his wages and thats Howard Webb.

His assistants will be Shaun Procter-Green and David Richardson, with Lee Mason acting as fourth official, and Nigel Bannister as reserve assistant.

Aston Villa will be taking the trip to London to take on Crystal Palace in the FA Cup 5th Round.

The Eagles beat our local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers at Selhurst Park tonight 3-1, thanks to a hat-trick from Danny Butterfield.

The tie will take place on Sunday, 14th February with a kick off time of 3.45pm.

Avillafan.com will be looking into coach travel for this game.

Wilfred Bouma and Curtis Davis last night stepped up there comeback to first team action by both completing 90 minutes for the Reserve side in a 3-1 victory over Chelsea at Villa Park.

Bouma, whos been out of action for around 16 months played his first game since his long term injury problems, while Curtis Davis continued his comeback, after appearing against Brighton in the FA Cup.

Villa took the lead when Andreas Weimann put the ball past Chelsea keeper Rhys Taylor in the seventh minute.

However, the lead didnt last two long as the visitors equalised within three minutes. Kenny Strickland slotted home for Chelsea just inside the penalty area.

Villa got there lead back when Jonathon Hogg crossed the ball into there area, where Curtis Davis headed the ball in the direction of Ciaran Clarke who converted a fantastic overhead kick.

Villa confirmed the victory in the last minute when Hogg was once again involved with the goal. He headed the ball back across the goal from a cross, for Weimann to score his second of the night and give the reserves all three points.

Despite the victory, the spotlight was very much on Bouma, and Davis and they successfully come through there first step back to full fitness.

Wilfred Bouma today insisted that his long awaited comeback to the game isnt far away and the only thing missing is his fitness as he looks to return to first team action.

The Dutch star has been out of action for 14 months when he suffored a dislocated ankle, and after a few problems on his first comeback he now insists things are much better.

Bouma paid tribute to his family, his teammates and of course the staff at Villa Park insisting that they all made him feel part of the team and he was never forgotten about.

However, he paid a special tribute to the Aston Villa faithful stating they made the real differance. He said when fans approached him they always asked how he was, and told him he was missed. He went on to say that when he does return to first team action it will be extremely emotional to hear the Holte End singing out his name once again.

Onto other news today, Barry Bannan has agreed to stay at Blackpool for the remainder of the season on a loan deal. Blackpool’s rivals Preston North End were also rumoured to be interested in the midfielder.

Since 2006, Villa owner, Randy Lerner has seen the ups and downs of following the Villa. But it seems he has only seen ‘up’ when it comes to his investment to the club.

According to official documents, Lerner has submitted just under £140m into Aston Villa.

Despite this, Villa announced a loss of £7.3m last year, as a result of almost doubling players wages and more signings in order to remain in competition with other wealthy clubs.

But overall, I think that the Lerner revolution has benefited Villa hugely. And there is evidence, with us reaching our first cup final at Wembley for over a decade.

His investments into the club have been clever ones and he has been able to secure Villa financially for the long run – which is more than you can say at Old Trafford, where the Glazer family have revealed their debt of a staggering £716m! None of that sum being an investment for the club!