ASTON Villa supporters will pay a special tribute to Fabrice Muamba at tonight’s Premier League clash with Wanderers at Villa Park.

Villa fans have been staging rounds of applause in the 19th minute of games in support of their captain Stiliyan Petrov, whose shirt number is 19, since he was diagnosed with acute leukaemia last month.

In addition, tonight they will stage a similar tribute in the sixth-minute in support of Muamba, whose success in recovering from the cardiac arrest he suffered on the pitch at Spurs last month has inspired Bulgarian Petrov in his fight.

The supporters group – My Old Man Said – wrote to Wanderers asking for their blessing for the initiative, and they have asked The Bolton News to forward the message to Bolton fans.

“It’s a celebration of the miracle of Fabrice’s recovery,” said a spokesman for the fans group. “It would be nice for a minute’s applause to be used for something positive for a change.”