Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov is confident of being fit for the Carling Cup final against Manchester United.

The Bulgaria international has been laid low with a virus and missed Wednesday night's FA Cup fifth-round replay success over Crystal Palace at Villa Park.

But Petrov was given the all-clear on Thursday to resume training and is set to lead Villa's attempt to lift their first major trophy for 14 years.

He told Press Association Sport: "The virus is okay. It is better.

"I've been on antibiotics for the last three or four days and we are expecting every day for it to get better and better. I've done a bit of training this morning, I am going to train with the team this afternoon as well to try to catch up.

"I think it should be okay for Sunday."

Petrov admitted: "In my last game against Burnley at the weekend, I played with a little fever and then I felt really bad after the game. I had a lot of pain in my body and my chest was really tight and on Monday I was really bad so I started the antibiotics straight away.

"I've had my chest checked today and it was clear so I can go to train.

"But, even if there had been a doubt, I was going to push right to the end because we have worked so hard as a team to get to that final and nobody would want to miss it.

"If I wasn't fit, the manager could have got someone else to play and I would just have accepted it but I am getting better."