Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill will come face to face with
veteran striker Henrik Larsson once again when Villa meet
Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup.
Larsson played under O'Neill and gave him sterling service during
his time as Celtic boss.
The two will now be reunited - though on opposing teams - on Sunday
after Larsson joined Premiership leaders United on a three-month
loan deal earlier this week from Swedish side Helsingborgs. He is
expected to go straight into the side.
O'Neill believes the 35-year-old Swede can be successful during his
loan period in England but admits he did not consider trying to
tempt him to Villa Park for fear of affecting the relationship he
had with the forward.
"Henrik has been and still is a quality player," O'Neill said. "He
is also not too old either.
"I can see exactly why Sir Alex Ferguson has gone for him because
he will need a number of quality players in January-February and
Henrik is certainly that.
"He owes me absolutely nothing and I am hoping that is reciprocated
as well. I wish him all the best and he will do wonderfully
well.
"Those days with Henrik at Celtic have passed and if it was only to
get him for a couple of months, it is not eventually where I want
Aston Villa to go.
"It doesn't mean I wouldn't want some experienced players around
me. But I don't really want to ruin a decent relationship that I
had with him.
"He might have arrived here and maybe found life wasn't so rosy and
maybe I didn't pick him in games. I really don't want a Henrik
Larsson knocking on my door every single day saying I should have
started games."