Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra says Sven-Goran Eriksson could have a job for life at Eastlands.

The former England boss has enjoyed a fine return to club management since being appointed by Thaksin in the summer and his work in elevating the club to fourth in the Premier League has not gone unnoticed.

"I think Sven can remain our manager until he retires," Thaksin told the Daily Star."I didn't expect the team would achieve this kind of level. But I did believe when I arrived that Manchester City could improve a lot.

"And you simply have to hand it to Sven who has done a marvellous job."

He added: "He is a very good football strategist and he teaches the players well. His motivational ability is another important part of his game.

"We consider him as a world-class manager. There are not many of them in football but Sven is certainly one of them."

Despite such praise from the boss Eriksson goes in search of his first win away from home since the opening day of the season this weekend, when he takes the side to Villa Park.

Michael Johnson is a major doubt. The young midfielder is still suffering some discomfort from an abdominal injury which required surgery last month and has been ordered to rest for a couple of days.

If the England Under-21 misses out, Eriksson could hand Geovanni a rare start alongside Dietmar Hamann as Stephen Ireland is serving the final game of a three-match ban. Joe Hart will definitely be in goal after being preferred to Andreas Isaksson.

Team (from): Hart, Isaksson, Corluka, Sun, Onuoha, Richards, Dunne, Garrido, Ball, Hamann, Fernandes, Johnson, Geovanni, Petrov, Elano, Bianchi, Vassell, Mpenza, Etuhu.