Aston Villa right back Luke Young has been out of action since early December having failing to shake off a long-standing knee problem which has proven worse than first feared. The knee issue is not the only injury that the 31-year-old has attained this season after incurring hip and ankle injuries earlier in the season. The full-back’s lack of fitness led Gerard Houllier to enter the market and bring in right-back Kyle Walker on loan with Young facing a real challenge to win back his first team place from the young defender upon his recovery after a decent start to the season after a torrid time in the last campaign. Villa’s manager has confirmed that the club and Luke have sought further medical advice, stating: “Luke saw a specialist yesterday [Wednesday] in London, so it will depend what the results are. He does training and he doesn’t feel anything and then at training the following day he feels something. Obviously we need to sort it out. I played him regularly every game until the Liverpool game and then after that he got injured and never came back.”
On a more positive note Stewart Downing looks set to be on schedule to recover from a shin injury which saw him taken off against Manchester United last time out. The winger remains as the only outfield player to have started every league game and should be fit to face Fulham on the weekend with his manager playing down the issue, “Stewart should be okay for Fulham. It was just a kick on the side of his shin.” The match could also see a debut for new loan signing Michael Bradley, providing the American can tie up the paperwork regarding a work permit in time.
