Source: Team_Talk
Collins cleared for Portugal trip
Aston Villa defender James Collins was passed fit to travel to Portugal on Wednesday afternoon despite suffering an injury setback at Walsall.[LNB] Collins was substituted after only three minutes of Tuesday's friendly at the Banks's Stadium after suffering a calf injury. [LNB]It was the latest setback in a pre-season which has been of a stop-start nature for Collins because of injury niggles.[LNB]But he was given the green light to jet out for the weekend matches with Feyenoord on Saturday and Benfica 24 hours later after undergoing scans earlier today.[LNB]Collins was a major figure for Villa last season after his £5 million move from West Ham and formed a solid partnership with Richard Dunne.[LNB]With Curtis Davies available for transfer if the price is right, Villa boss Martin O'Neill will not want to be without the services of Collins for the start of the Premier League campaign.[LNB]O'Neill said: "James' pre-season has been kind of stop-start. A couple of niggling things he picked up along the way, he hasn't been able to shake off.[LNB]"You don't want them to get anymore serious.[LNB]"James had felt his calf a little bit in the warm up, but decided to go ahead with it and lasted less than a minute of the game. That was obviously a blow to him."[LNB]England midfielder James Milner - a target for Manchester City - was also part of the squad after holding talks on Monday with O'Neill.
