• Premier League

Dunne joins lengthy Villa injury list

ESPNsoccernet staff
November 15, 2010
Richard Dunne is struggling with a knee injury © PA Photos
Enlarge

Aston Villa captain Richard Dunne is the latest player to join the club's lengthy injury list after suffering a reoccurrence of a knee problem.

The Republic of Ireland international, who has been forced to withdraw from Giovanni Trapattoni's squad for Wednesday's clash with Norway, is the tenth senior Villa player to be sidelined.

Dunne's knee flared up during Saturday's 2-2 home draw with Manchester United and Villa boss Gerard Houllier can ill afford anymore injury blows.

Houllier said: "Richard's knee has swollen up and it is a recurring thing. That is why he missed two or three games earlier in the season.

"He is important to us and I like the attitude of all my older players because they are good tutors (for the younger players) in terms of training and attitude towards the job.

"The two centre-backs (Dunne and James Collins) are fantastic people. They encourage and sometimes they give a rollicking."

Villa are already without Stiliyan Petrov, Nigel Reo-Coker, Emile Heskey, Fabian Delph (all knee) John Carew, Carlos Cuellar and Ciaran Clark (all calf), Habib Beye (ankle) and Steve Sidwell (Achilles).

In addition Stephen Ireland missed the United game through illness while Gabriel Agbonlahor withdrew from the England squad to face France after suffering a knock in the same game.

Houllier reiterated that he will look to strengthen the squad during the next transfer window. He said: "We definitely need to sign one or two players in January."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices