O'Neill Hopes For Luck With Injuries

Martin O'Neill is worried at the size of the squad with injuries mounting but is hoping that Aaron Hughes and Olof Mellberg, who collided with each other at White Hart Lane, will recover in time to play once again in London, this time against Charlton on Saturday.

'The squad has been a bit weak. I knew that in August and we were unable to do anything about it at that stage. Obviously in January we'll hope to try to do something to give these players a bit of help.'

'We could have done without the injuries to Mellberg and Hughes, but both are recovering. And I'm hoping they shouldn't be too bad - that's what the physios are saying. They weren't well enough to continue, and we'll say how they are in a couple of days. Aaron is feeling the effects of the knock - the two of them clocked into each other. I'm not exactly sure of his situation but he's sitting up and seems fine. Olof's knee is a bit swollen but he's feeling better than he did at half-time. Stiliyan had a hamstring problem and wasn't able to continue after half-time which was a shame.'

And on Chris Sutton 'Sutton had blurred vision during the game against Manchester United and it didn't clear up in time. It was better to be absolutely sure. He was complaining about it after the game and after 48 hours it wasn't clearing up enough for him to take his place.'

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