Carew winning fitness fight

Villa striker set to tackle Bolton

Last updated: 2nd April 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Carew winning fitness fight

Carew: Fitness fight

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Aston Villa striker John Carew looks set to overcome a groin strain in time for Saturday's Premier League clash with Bolton Wanderers.

The Norway international limped out of last weekend's 4-0 thrashing at Old Trafford with the problem and was sent for a scan on Monday.

But manager Martin O'Neill expects his leading scorer to be back in training on Thursday and is confident he will be available to tackle the Trotters.

Positive

He told the club's official website: "I'm very optimistic about it, because he came in on Sunday and by Monday he felt a million times better. So hopefully, he'll be available.

"He wants to play and he understands that sometimes you just get on with it. He's prepared to do that and feels very positive about playing on Saturday.

"John is a very important player for us and we're trying to use his experience to help the younger players alongside him - Gabby (Agbonlahor), Ashley Young and Shaun Maloney."

Villa's European bid has faltered badly in recent weeks and they have slipped to eighth in the table, eight points behind Everton in fifth.

A top-five finish will be required to earn a Uefa Cup place for next season, unless Portsmouth climb above Everton in the Premier League table and go on to lift the FA Cup, in which case sixth would be sufficient.