Villa keeping eye on Davies
Aston Villa are to closely monitor the fitness of central defender Curtis Davies after the recurrence of a shoulder problem.
Davies dislocated his shoulder during the first half of Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Everton but was able to complete the game after the joint was manipulated back into place.
The former England Under-21 player, who has been cleared to face CSKA Moscow in tonight’s UEFA Cup clash, had suffered a similar injury when playing for West Brom four years ago.
Villa manager Martin O’Neill said: “Curtis hurt himself during the game at Goodison Park and he has been for a scan.
“He dislocated his shoulder four years ago and carried on in that particular game not knowing he had done some damage.
“The scan has shown some old damage which has just occurred again.
“He was in a bit of pain at the time but he feels okay now. He had a bit of manipulation and he felt fine again.
“He is good now but we will monitor the situation. If it occurs again, say twice in a short space of time, then that’s something we would have to look at.”
Meanwhile left-back Wilfred Bouma’s return to action after a dislocated ankle has been slightly delayed.
Bouma, who suffered the injury in an Intertoto Cup tie with Odense BK in July, had been due to play in a reserve clash with Arsenal
O’Neill said: “Wilfred is making progress. We all thought he would play in the reserves game, and he wanted to.
“But he was feeling a bit sore in training so we took him out as a precaution.”
