Aston Villa Football Club News

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Alex McLeish

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

O'Neill's defensive headache

27 Dec 2006 - 11:49:59

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Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has his fingers crossed that defensive duo Aaron Hughes and Olof Mellberg will be fit for the crucial trip to Charlton Athletic next weekend.

The pair were forced off either side of half-time of the 2-1 defeat at Spurs, having collided in their attempts to thwart an attack from the home side.

O'Neill told the club's official website: "We could have done without the injuries to Mellberg and Hughes, but both are recovering.

"I'm hoping they shouldn't be too bad, that's what the physios are saying and we'll see 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 seems fine. Olof's knee is a bit swollen."

Meanwhile, Mark Delaney admits that he is still some way off a return to action, having not featured for Villa at all this season due to a knee problem.

He said: "I am still not happy with my knee. Maybe it needs more time to recover."