Davies' Villa debut on hold

Aston Villa’s record signing Curtis Davies is likely to have to put his debut on hold because of a hamstring problem.

The £10m capture from West Brom is more likely to be available after the two-week international break.

But Martin O’Neill’s other newcomer, Zat Knight, signed from Fulham for £3.5m, will go straight in to the squad to face Jose Mourinho’s side.

Shaun Maloney is pushing hard for a place in the starting line up after netting the winner against Fulham and scoring twice against Wrexham in the Carling Cup.

But keeper Thomas Sorensen and midfielder Patrik Berger are still not fit enough to return.

Villa (from): Carson, Taylor, Gardner, Mellberg, Knight, Laursen, Cahill, Bouma, Young, Petrov, Barry, Reo-Coker, Maloney, Osbourne, Moore, Carew, Agbonlahor, Harewood, Davies.