Davies targets Villa spot

Davies: Rapid recovery

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Curtis Davies is confident of being ready for Aston Villa's opening Premier League game after making a swift return from injury.

The defender ruptured his Achilles tendon against Arsenal in March and was expected to be sidelined until October.

However, he played for an hour in a behind-closed-doors clash against Notts County last week and then came through his second run-out in three days as Villa drew 1-1 with Reading.

Davies has spent the summer building up his fitness at the gym and he now believes he could be considered for the clash with Manchester City on 17th August.

"I needed to see how the injury would react to this sort of test," Davies told the club's official website.

"If we have the sort of season we're aiming for with a run in Europe I need to show I can play, have a day off and then play another game.

Push on

"To play 90 minutes is the next goal and hopefully I can do that next week.

"The start of the season was always my target. As soon as I started training with the lads, I thought that I would get a month's training behind me and then hopefully push on.

"It is not that easy and I have to make sure my foot comes through it, but I am hoping to show the gaffer that I am ready to go into a competitive game. All I can do is keep reminding him."

Martin O'Neill has paid tribute to Davies for making such a speedy recovery but insisted that he will not be rushed back.

He said: "I'm pleasantly surprised to see Curtis back so quickly. I couldn't have seen it when he picked up the injury.

"He's done amazingly well but he's still well short of what I would call serious match practice."