Aston Villa Football Club News

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

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

Villa eye emergency loan

14 Dec 2006 - 12:20:49

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Aston Villa have been granted permission by the Premier League to draft in a goalkeeper on loan ahead of Saturday's visit of Bolton.

With regular number one Thomas Sorensen sidelined with a knee injury, Villa were relying on understudy Stuart Taylor to fill the void.

But, after the former England Under-21 international picked up a knee injury of his own in Monday's 2-2 draw with Sheffield United and underwent surgery, the Villains have been left with rookie Robert Olejnik as the only fit keeper at the club.

Meanwhile, Villa manager Martin O'Neill has called on the Villa Park crowd to get behind the side.

"If we can get a bit of confidence about ourselves now at home and get the crowd stirred up, that would be great. We need to get the players lifted," he told the club's official website.

"Now for the first time, it's up to the crowd to help lift us. The supporters can play a huge part and it's the first time I've asked of them.

"Before now it's been up to us, and I suppose it still is, but really now we could get an enormous lift from getting the crowd coming in and supporting us."