Aston Villa Injury Updates

The official site have said that Olof Mellberg is struggling with a back injury picked up whilst playing for Sweden. The injury looks set to rule him out of the Sweden v Northern Ireland tonight. I guess Craig Gardner will be stand in if he recovers from his thigh injury, otherwise it is anyone's guess as the club don't have an actual right-back to use, which frankly is amazing.

Meanwhile John Carew is apparently on his way back from a knee injury. Martin O'Neill explained on the official site:

'Carew is improving. I would, at this minute, say he was unlikely to be available for Saturday. It is taking a bit of time. Saturday would be the fourth week and we were always anticipating between four and six weeks. But he is doing a bit of running at the moment, albeit in straight lines.'

And on Garnder he said:

'Craig has had a grumbling groin problem for a while. Stuart Pearce has been pretty decent about it and the break gave him a chance to get it cleared up. The doctors have said things are okay: 'there's not a problem'- so this gives him a chance to do some extra work with it, to make sure. He trained yesterday morning, and I am hoping that he will have no ill effects- but we will see.'

On a slightly better note, Patrik Berger, who hasn't been able to play in one full game yet, has returned to training - again...!

Martin O'Neill said: 'Berger trained yesterday - and did very well. The injury was in the same place but wasn't as severe as the first time. It had all the same symptoms but it wasn't the same severity. But he has come back. He didn't feel it yesterday, so that is really encouraging for him. It has been a frustrating time for him. He was flying at the back end of last year and all pre-season and then got injured the day before we kicked-off.'

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