Aston Villa hit by double injury blow
Aston Villa have been dealt another blow ahead of the English Premier League kick off with the news that defenders Carlos Cuellar and James Collins have been ruled out of their opening match against West Ham United on Saturday.
Right-back Cuellar has been struggling to regain fitness after suffering a hamstring injury and will not be fit in time. Meanwhile, central defender Collins has been sidelined after being hit by a problem with his calf. The news comes after Villa were rocked by manager Martin O’Neill’s sudden resignation on Monday.
Caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald told the club's official website that: "Carlos is still not outside running because of the hamstring injury he picked up. He's getting there but he won't be ready for Saturday. James will return to training later this week. He won't be available for the weekend though. We have injuries but you have to deal with them. Let's see what we can do with what we've got."
However, there was slightly better news for the team when MacDonald said that striker Gabriel Agbonlahor, who has been struggling with a hamstring problem, and central defender Curtis Davies, who suffered a knee injury, may be fit in time for the opening game of the league campaign. He revealed that: "Curtis and Gabby are both joining in (training). How far down the line they are, I'll have to assess over the next couple of days. You always get little niggles - with the hard grind of pre-season - but I am confident whatever side we put out will compete with West Ham on Saturday."
Meanwhile, MacDonald is hoping that his players who were away on international duty this week will return to the club fit and ready for the clash with West Ham. He said that: "Let's see what happens with the players who come back from international games. It was nice for Marc [Albrighton] to play for the [England] under-21s but what was good for us was the fact he only played 19 minutes. We just have to hope [there are no injuries to others].”
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