Villa striker Emile Heskey is set to recover from a knee injury which has kept him out for over a month, just in time to face Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. The 32-year-old had recaptured some form when reunited with former boss Gerard Houllier but a decent run of 3 goals in 6 (unheard of for Heskey!) was cut short by an injury picked up in one of the new manager’s double training sessions at the end of October. The forward needed surgery on the knee but proceedings went well and the ex-England international should be in for a timely return to face Di Matteo’s side. Nigel Reo-Coker had his first training session with the senior side yesterday but Houllier revealed he is unlikely to feature at the weekend and captain Stiliyan Petrov should return to training within the next few weeks. Speaking about the progress of Heskey, Houllier was full of praise of the big man stating:
“Emile will definitely be involved on Saturday. It’s down to other people to analyse the minutes we’ve played with Emile, the goals he’s scored and made. But you would see the difference, he works hard for the team and we’ve missed him.”
With regards to the impending return of Petrov and Reo-Coker, he said:
“Petrov is ahead of schedule and in two weeks he should be back in training.
“Reo-Coker had his first full training session with us on Wednesday. I’d be surprised if he is in contention (for Saturday).”
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