But O’Leary fears the 27-year-old player may not be seen again in a Villa shirt until next season.

O’Leary said: “The operation went very well but I’d be very surprised if we see Gavin again this season.

“You can only give him tremendous credit for the way that he’s carried on playing during the last few months and he is the sort of player who’d turn out on one leg if at all possible.

“But we had got to the stage where he was missing training and having to be wrapped in cotton wool between games and this was obviously affecting his match fitness.

“By the end he wasn’t doing himself any good and the surgery is the best answer although, as I say, we are unlikely to see him again this season.”

Meanwhile O’Leary is hoping Darius Vassell can return to first-team action sooner rather than later after admitting his side had missed the pace of the England striker.

Vassell will play the final 30 minutes of Thursday evening’s reserve match with Manchester United, his first action since breaking an ankle against Fulham in late October.

Villa have managed only 12 goals in the 14 games that Vassell has been missing and O’Leary admitted: “Although Darius is not prolific himself in terms of goals, we’ve missed the threat and what his pace can do to opposition teams.

“It’s good to have him back but he’s quite a long way off full fitness yet. This is the start of a long road he has to go down, but hopefully there will be no setbacks and he can step things up.”