Delaney awaits injury tests

Aston Villa defender Mark Delaney is to undergo further tests today to determine the extent of his cruciate ligament injury.

The Welsh international had to be taken off towards the end of Sunday’s 3-0 Barclaycard Premiership victory at Villa Park following a collision with Blackburn defender James McEveley.

Manager Graham Taylor initially predicted Delaney would be out of action for only a fortnight.

But the indications are the defender faces a longer spell on the sidelines after seeing a specialist in Sheffield yesterday.

Whatever the outcome, Delaney is currently feeling down after his third injury layoff of the season.

He initially picked up a knee problem in September and then was out for 12 games with a broken bone in his foot suffered while on duty for his country in Azerbaijan.

Delaney was only in the third game of his latest comeback when he sustained the injury against Graeme Souness’ side.

“It’s a real blow,” he said. “Coming so soon after the broken bone in my foot, the last thing I needed was another injury.

“It seems to have been one thing after another. I was just getting back into the swing of things, hoping for a good run to the end of the season, and then this happens.

“I have some really important games coming for Villa and Wales, and I don’t want to be out of action again for too long.

“Hopefully there will be some good news – but I do feel down at present.”

One good piece of news for Villa is that midfielders Oyvind Leonhardsen and Moustapha Hadji have resumed full training.

The duo have been sidelined since the Christmas period after picking up hamstring injuries.

There are poised to start trying to rebuild some match fitness in next Tuesday’s reserve-team outing with Bradford at Bescot Stadium.