Villa captain, Stiliyan Petrov has been assured that he will not require an operation on the injury he sustained in last weekend’s defeat to Sunderland. The skipper retired hurt in the first half and it has since been revealed that the midfielder is suffering knee ligament damage. Nigel Reo-Coker has been entrusted with the armband in Petrov’s absence which could stretch over a number of months. Manager Gerard Houllier confirmed yesterday that he hoped the Bulgarian would not need an operation on the injury and would prefer a natural recovery. Houllier exposed that this was indeed the case and Petrov would not need surgery on the knee though the duration of the injury is still expected to be as long as first feared. The manager stated that the 32-year-old will not be back in action until the New Year with an expected lay-off of around 8 to 12 weeks.
