Shay Given still fighting for future at Aston Villa
Shay Given today refused to write off his Villa career despite his frustration at being frozen out.
The goalkeeper insisted he is ready to play if he is handed a shock recall after Villa failed to offload him in the summer when a deadline day move to Liverpool collapsed.
Given, the injured Charles N'Zogbia and Alan Hutton are still on the books but are training away from the first team and have been left off the official squad list on programmes for home games.
Fellow outcasts Darren Bent and Stephen Ireland have been sent on loan to Fulham and Stoke with their Villa Park careers over.
But ex-Ireland international Given, behind Brad Guzan and Jed Steer, insisted he will not give up on his Villa future.
He said: "Things can quickly change in football – injuries, suspensions, you never know - so if I do get my chance then I've got to be ready to take it.
"I'm fit as a fiddle, I feel really sharp and I'm just raring to get the chance if it comes along.
"It's just frustrating that I'm not playing and it's hard to keep training and know there's no game at the end of the week.
"I'm fit as a fiddle, I feel really sharp and I'm just raring to get the chance if it comes along.
"It was nice to play a part in Stiliyan Petrov's testimonial in front of 60,000 fans at the weekend.
"As a footballer, as a player, that's all you want to do - play in front of big crowds. To show people you've still got the ability to play – hopefully in the Premier League."
Given made a £3.5m switch from Saturday's visitors Newcastle – signing a five-year deal worth £60,000 a week – in 2011.
But he was axed by Lambert last season and has not played since the 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Millwall in January.
The 37-year-old though has remained behind the team and believes they can build on a positive start.
He said: "Ideally we'd love to finish in the top half. We had a fantastic finish to last season and a good start to this one as well.
"We've got Newcastle now coming up at the weekend, which is a tough game of course, but one that we'll want to win.
"We started really well at Arsenal and were disappointed at Chelsea and played well against Liverpool, so the start's been really good.
"If we can get three points on Saturday it will be a big boost for everyone."
