Bad blisters rule Vassell out of Lille semi-final

Aston Villa look certain to be without Darius Vassell for their Intertoto Cup semi-final second leg at home to Lille tonight as the England striker is suffering from severely blistered feet.

With record signing Juan Pablo Angel back in training but still not ready for action after a knee injury, Villa are again likely to partner Marcus Allback and Peter Crouch up front as they bid to reach a second successive Intertoto final.

The Villa manager Graham Taylor said: "Darius is the biggest doubt with these blisters. He played on Sunday [against De Graafschap] and came off at half-time, and it's fair to say the blisters were not nice to look at.

"But he also had this problem with England in the summer. I don't know what is causing it, but blisters can be an awful thing."

Taylor hit out at reports that he had issued a hands-off warning to Manchester United over Vassell, who is in talks over a new contract. He said: "I've got no situation with Vassell. He's under a two-year contract. We had talks before the World Cup and we have continued those conversations. He's got two years left on his contract; we're very happy, and he's very happy. That's all I can say."

The Turkish defender Alpay Ozalan will make his first appearance for Villa since being given a month's break after helping his country to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. Goalkeeper Peter Enckelman will also return after missing Sunday's friendly in the Netherlands with a groin strain.

Steve Staunton is again likely to captain the side – the armband is up for grabs now Paul Merson has departed for Portsmouth

Rufus Brevett has challenged his Fulham team-mates to score early on in their semi-final second leg against Sochaux in France. The former QPR player believes Fulham must take an early advantage against the Frenchmen if they are to defend their 1-0 first-leg advantage after Sean Davis' late goal.

Brevett has warned the Cottagers not to take their opponents lightly. He said: "We've still got a long way to go and it's still going to be a difficult game over there. We played them last season and they gave us a bit of a lesson."

But Brevett believes Fulham's trump card will be the clean sheet they kept in the first leg at Loftus Road – and claims the Cottagers' displays have improved since a rusty start to life in Europe. He added: "It was more important we kept a clean sheet. They have no away goal so if we can nick a goal over there we stand a good chance.

"I think the performances are getting better. The first two performances were a bit too stale and the sharpness wasn't there but that's coming and the confidence is there.

"We knew it was going to be difficult so we were very pleased with the victory in the first leg. With friendlies there's not much riding on it and sometimes you take the opposition lightly. But there's a lot riding on these games and we want to get into the Uefa Cup."

And Brevett is enjoying life at Fulham's temporary home, Loftus Road. The former QPR defender said: "I quite like playing there. It's compact – you are close to the fans and especially in Premier League games the atmosphere will be fantastic."