O'Leary dismisses Laursen injury threat

Aston Villa manager David O’Leary is confident that central defender Martin Laursen will be back to full fitness next season as he played down suggestions that his recent knee problem is career-threatening.

Laursen has just returned to first-team action after a seven-month lay-off with the injury suffered against Charlton at The Valley in August.

There have been reports that O’Leary’s £3m (€4.4m) capture from AC Milan last summer may struggle to make a complete recovery after having a sizeable chunk of his cartilage removed.

But O’Leary is adamant the Danish international will be raring to go by the start of the 2005-06 campaign after gaining valuable match sharpness in the next seven games before undergoing a full pre-season schedule.

O’Leary said: “I see these reports about Martin’s fitness and it has baffled me. He came here last summer and got a bad injury. The surgeons took a long time to put it right but he is doing fine now.

“The surgeons have said it is important that Martin doesn’t over extend himself by playing a daft amount of games and just gets through to the end of the season.

“They say it is important he rehabilitates well in the summer and does a solid pre-season of five to six weeks and then he will come back stronger and be absolutely fine.

“He might play a load of games and in some of them have an irritation of his knee but what has been claimed has been blown out of proportion about his knee condition. I expect Martin to be up and running and flying and to have him back is a big lift for us.”