Source: Team_Talk
O'Neill: Laursen a leader among men
O'Neill, who takes his side to Middlesbrough on Saturday, has described the former AC Milan centre half as a "real leader."
O'Neill, who hopes to have Gareth Barry and Carlos Cuellar available at The Riverside following illness, said: "I was expecting Martin's decision.
"But the irony is that it was a knee with which he had never had a problem.
"I would not have believed that after we had beaten West Ham at Christmas-time he would only play one more league game for us.
"He is a still a very young man who had another year on his contract and the way he was going we would have been thinking of extending his contract.
"We have lost a real leader. We have lost a talisman. We have lost a real quality central back.
"He will be hard to replace. He has been a fantastic player for Villa. He never shirked anything and he has been missed by everyone - myself, the players and fans."
Replacing Laursen will test O'Neill this summer, but of more pressing concern is trying to end the season with back to back wins after a run of just one victory in 13 games.
While it is no more than personal pride on the line for Villa, they can have a say in the relegation battle as after tackling Middlesbrough their final game is at home to Newcastle.
O'Neill added: "It is an interesting situation. Where does our responsibility lie?
"Let's say we come to the last day of the season and we cannot finish any worse than the position we are in and we are not costing anybody anything and you would love to play a couple of players to give them experience.
"What is the responsibility? What would other teams think?
"For instance, one or two players have been carrying niggles in the last couple of weeks and their presence has been significant for us.
"But at the end of the day would you play someone who is absolutely fresh and raring to go and would they make a bigger contribution to any particular game and how would the opposition view it?
"All these things have to be taken into consideration. It is a difficult one.
"We will try to win the last two games. It's as simple as that. If we drop points it ends up doing someone a favour."
O'Neill wants to see a marked improvement on the way his side performed when they lost at Fulham last weekend and he added:
"If anyone had watched us play in our second-half performance against Fulham they would have nothing to fear.
"Absolutely nothing to fear! Middlesbrough or Newcastle.
"We want to win the games but I can understand what other people are thinking.
"Unless we have a real crop of injuries I am still looking to include quality, experienced players such as Nigel Reo-Coker and Steve Sidwell who is dying for a game at this minute."
