Ex-Dortmund player Lambert back with Villa

The first match of the 2012-13 pre-season at Weser Stadium is a highly attractive one to boot. The English Premier League side Aston Villa will take on the Green-Whites on Saturday at 6 p.m. (starting at 5:45 p.m. in live ticker on WERDER.DE). This test match is also the highlight and finale of the Day of the Fans 2012 (here for all information). The game is also a preparation highlight from a sports standpoint as well.

"I am proud of being the manager of this football club now. I will give everything I have for the club to be successful," said Paul Lambert at his official introduction as new head coach of Aston Villa. The Scot is the fourth head coach in less than two seasons at the tradition-rich club from the English Midlands, and he would like to lead them back to their old success. The former Borussia Dortmund player in 1996-97 was the first British player to win the Champions League with a non-British team. In the 3-1 victory in the final over Juventus Turin in Munich, Lambert shut down no less than Zinedine Zidane for 90 minutes.

Big time player and coaching personalities have made Aston Villa well known, among them Martin O'Neill, Kevin MacDonald and Gerard Houllier. Health problems forced the Frenchman Houllier to step down after just one season. Alex McLeish replaced him and he would then be replaced by Lambert.

The new coach Lambert would like to use the test Saturday in Weser Stadium to get an impression of his new players Ron Vlaar, Brett Holman, Matt Lowton and Karim El Ahmadi. Villa start their new season a week later at West Ham United. Gabriel Agdonlahor will not be available for Villa against SV Werder as the 25-year-old attacker has been dealing with knee problems for weeks. Darren Bent will likely play of front after the most expensive transfer in club history (Bent transferred in January 2011 from AFC Sunderland to Aston Villa for about 21.5 million euros) was limited with an injury of his own. But the 28-year-old English international, who has cost his last four new clubs nearly 63 million euros in transfer fees, should be ready to go.