Villa face Newcastle at St James' Park on Monday night knowing that a win would lift them into third place in the Barclays Premier League just three points off the top.

A second successive victory for Newcastle would pull them out of the relegation zone and O'Neill said: "Joe Kinnear has been an excellent manager.

"He conjured an excellent team spirit at Wimbledon which he really needed as they were playing games at Crystal Palace and didn't have a home of their own.

great opportunity

"If you were going to survive you had to have that spirit and if you were going to prosper, which they did, they had to have something a bit special.

"It was a big, big win for Joe when Newcastle beat West Bromwich Albion last week and you get the impression with Joe that he is desperate to get back into the game.

"This is a great opportunity for him and he has said this is the biggest club he has ever worked in. He wants to do his very best. He has got to win and I think there is a new-found spirit there."