Laursen must wait for knee verdict

Aston Villa defender Martin Laursen faces another anxious 48-hour wait before knowing if he is to require knee surgery.

The Denmark international centre-back has spent the last three weeks on the sidelines after sustaining ligament damage in Villa’s 3-0 defeat at Charlton.

The £3m (€4.5m) summer capture from AC Milan has since missed the club’s last two games, at home to Newcastle and Chelsea, as well as Denmark’s opening World Cup qualifying draw against Ukraine.

Laursen yesterday visited a specialist and underwent a scan in the hope of discovering the full extent to his injury, however the results proved inconclusive.

The 27-year-old is to now undergo further, more detailed tests, with manager David O’Leary fearing the worst.

“Martin has ligament trouble, but the problem is we need to take another closer look before we know exactly what is required,” said O’Leary in the Evening Mail.

“The scan showed us only so much. We need a more detailed one to discover the severity of the problem.

“At the moment, we don’t know whether he will be missing for two, four or six weeks – or longer, so he will undergo another scan tomorrow and we will be better placed to make a judgment then.”