Euro Double For Villa Pair

Villa duo Olof Mellberg and Marcus Allback have been named in the Swedish squad for two vital Euro 2004 qualifiers next month.

The pair will be on duty for the Group 4 matches against San Marino in Serravalle on 7 June, and Poland in Stockholm four days later.

And Allback will be hoping to build on the two-goal haul against Hungary that got Sweden¡¦s qualifying campaign back on track last month.

That brace sparked a run of four goals in Villa¡¦s last six Premiership games as the striker ended a difficult first Premiership season in style.

He said : ¡§The two goals in Budapest were just what I needed and gave me a boost for the end of the season.

¡§It was a difficult season for me until that run at the end, but to know that I was still in the national team was good for my confidence.

¡§We have two big games in June and if we win both of those, we could be top of our qualifying group ¡V not bad when you remember that we were being written off after just two games.¡¨