Roberto Di Matteo eyes winning start for Aston Villa

Aston Villa manager Roberto Di Matteo has set his sights on making a winning start to his reign when his side take on Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.

The newly-relegated Villans will play their first second-tier match for almost 30 years when they travel to Hillsborough on the opening weekend of the new Championship season.

Di Matteo admitted that his side faced a tough start against last season's beaten playoff finalists, but is hopeful that they will have what it takes to overcome the Owls.

"It's a tough start away at Sheffield Wednesday but we're looking forward to it. Pre-season is over now and we have done all the work that we could do in that period," he told the club's official website.

"Now it's great that the competitive games are starting. Sheffield Wednesday are a good team and they have made some good additions.

"They are [a] real tough test. But we want the points. There are 45 games after this one but we want to get off to a good start."

The match will be Di Matteo's first in English football since leaving Chelsea in 2012.