Staunton ‘hurt’ by Villa axing

ASTON Villa skipper Steve Staunton has revealed the ‘‘hurt’’ he felt at being dropped by manager Graham Taylor for the recent derby clash with West Brom at The Hawthorns.

The former Republic of Ireland international was left out of Villa’s Premiership line-up for the first time in nearly a year with Taylor instead preferring Ronny Johnsen to partner Olof Mellberg.

Taylor had described it as ‘‘the hardest decision I’ve made since coming back to Villa’’ but that was no consolation to Staunton, who returned to the side for Saturday’s 4-1 win over West Ham.