Aussies Abroad: Lowry, Burns seal moves

Shane Lowry has moved to Millwall from Aston Villa on a permanent basis, in a search for more game time.

Aston Villa defender Shane Lowry has made his loan move to Millwall permanent after agreeing to a two-and-a-half year deal with the nPower Championship outfit.

The defender, who joined Aston Villa-s youth set-up in 2005, leaves the Barclays Premier League club for an undisclosed fee.

He has been at Milwall on loan since November, and has done enough to join a long list of Australians, including Tim Cahill, Lucas Neill, Kevin Muscat and Dave Mitchell, to have played at the club.

Lowry's move came hot on the heels of the big news that Nathan Burns would not be returning to the A-League but rather, headed to the K-League.

The former Adelaide United striker left AEK Athens last week to sign a three-year deal in the K-League. Burns, who is searching for more game time, will join Incheon, who finished 13th in the 16-team league last year.

In FA Cup action, Rhys Williams picked up a yellow card in Middlesbrough-s 1-1 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Richard Garcia featured for 65 minutes in Hull City's loss to Crawley Town.

In the nPower Championship, Adam Federici kept a clean sheet in Reading-s 1-0 win over Bristol City. Neil Kilkenny only featured for City in the final stages of the match.

It wasn-t a happy day for Brett Holman in Holland; he only played 70 minutes in AZ Alkmaar-s 2-0 loss to Roda JC Kerkrade.