O'Leary holds out Hughes hope
Aston Villa manager David O’Leary believes defender Aaron Hughes has “an outside chance” of being fit for the West Midlands derby against Birmingham at St Andrews on October 16.
Northern Ireland skipper Hughes has been ruled out of his country’s two World Cup qualifiers with Wales in Belfast and Austria in Vienna after undergoing a hernia operation.
But O’Leary is clinging to the hope that Hughes could be available for a game which is developing into a relegation battle with both sides in the bottom six of the Premiership.
Twenty-five-year-old Hughes has been one of Villa’s most consistent players since arriving from Newcastle in the summer.
O’Leary: “Aaron has been on about the hernia before the game at Chelsea last weekend. He played in that game but said it felt really bad afterwards.
“The surgeon said the operation needed to be done immediately and there’s an outside chance we will have him back for the Birmingham match.
“Aaron is a good player. For just over £1m (€1.47m), he’ll prove a valuable asset to the club and has settled in well already for us.”
Hughes could soon face competition for his place as Mark Delaney is nearing full fitness after completing a second full 90 minutes for the reserves against Bolton on Monday evening.
The Wales international underwent knee surgery in the summer. Delaney’s return would also give O’Leary the option of playing him at centre-back.
The Villa chief currently only has rookie Gary Cahill as cover for skipper Olof Mellberg and England Under-21 defender Liam Ridgewell after Denmark international Martin Laursen was ruled out for the season with his knee problem.
Twenty-nine-year-old Delaney operated at the heart of the back four for part of last season.
