Sutton still causing concern
13 Mar 2007 - 11:57:38
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has admitted that he is becoming increasingly frustrated by Chris Sutton's mysterious eye injury.
The 34-year-old striker has not played since the home defeat to Manchester United on December 23 and is still unable to join the rest of the Villa squad for full contact training.
Sutton has already seen two specialists and is booked in to see a third, but appears to be no nearer to discovering what exactly the problem is.
An exasperated O'Neill told the club's official website: "Chris Sutton has an appointment in the next fortnight to see what progress has been made and we'll assess it from there.
"He doesn't feel much better. I saw him the other day because he's coming in to get some fitness, so if he gets some good news, at least his fitness levels are up there.
"At least if he got a hamstring injury, we'd know how long he was going to be out for. It's been more than frustrating for everyone concerned, especially for Chris, but it's crucial we get it right.
"I don't think Chris in the latter stages of his career, wants to be going into games thinking the next time he hurts himself his vision is impaired permanently.
"So if we get guarantees at some stage that a bang on the head won't give him that type of injury, then fine, but no-one has been able to give us that yet. We will just have to wait and see."
Meanwhile, Martin Laursen could make a shock return to action in Sunday's Premiership clash with Liverpool after making a quicker than anticipated recovery from the hamstring injury he suffered in the1-1 draw at Fulham.
O'Neill added: "These things usually take three weeks minimum, but he's feeling not too bad about it.
"Wednesday's game (against Arsenal) will come too soon for him, but then we'll see how he is after that."