Allback looking for quick return

Aston Villa striker Marcus Allback is confident of a club and country double next month after undergoing a minor groin operation yesterday.

Allback looks set to miss Villa’s next two matches, at Everton on Saturday and then Wolves on March 14, before hopefully being available for the home game with Blackburn on the 20th.

Despite just seven starts this season and only one since December, Allback is eager to force his way back into manager David O’Leary’s plans and is hoping the much-needed surgery will aid his quest.

Allback also has his sights set on making the Sweden squad for this summer’s Euro 2004 finals in Portugal, and in particular the friendly with England on March 31 in Gothenburg.

“The operation should not keep me out for much more than two weeks,” Allback told the Birmingham Post.

“It is a minor problem with the left groin and I have had it for a while. It is something that I cannot really put off.

“But I hope to be available to play again in the middle of March. As for the England match, I will definitely be fit for that.

“It is in my home town so I definitely want to take part in that match.”