Davis out of friendly
Aston Villa midfielder Steven Davis has been ruled out of the opening game of their pre-season tour against Hanover 96 on Saturday.
The Northern Ireland international suffered a thigh strain during the weekend win over Wolves at Molineux.
With the new Premiership season only two and a half weeks away, Villa are adopting a cautious approach with Davis.
But caretaker boss Roy Aitken is confident Davis will play a part later in the tour against either NEC Nijmegen or FC Groningen.
Davis was one of the few bright lights for Villa in a season of gross under-achievement which saw them narrowly cling onto their Premiership status.
Aitken said: “Steven strained a thigh against Wolves and he’s having treatment at the moment. That will continue when we go to Germany and Holland with a view to having him fit for the second or third game.”
Keeper Thomas Sorensen has recovered from an elbow injury and could return to action on Saturday while skipper Olof Mellberg will be part of the squad after his wife gave birth at the weekend.
Villa are hoping last season’s top scorer Milan Baros will be able to participate after showing signs of recovering from the foot injury sustained when on World Cup duty with the Czech Republic.
Lee Hendrie and Juan Pablo Angel are also expected to travel to Germany after recovering from knocks but Patrik Berger is rated “touch and go” for the opening game because of a calf injury.
