Martin O'Neill believes Aston Villa can help Moustapha Salifou when he returns from Angola.
Villa boss feels club can help affected midfielder
Martin O'Neill believes Aston Villa can help Moustapha Salifou when he returns after being involved in the gun attack on the Togo national team.
The midfielder was part of the Togo squad that was travelling to the African Cup of Nations in Angola from the Democratic Republic of Congo when their coach came under fire when crossing the border into the Angolan enclave of Cabinda on Friday.
Togo have now pulled out of the tournament after the driver, assistant manager and press officer all died of their injuries following the attack.
Salifou is thought to have witnessed team-mate and goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale get shot in the chest and O'Neill feels the 26-year-old will take the incident badly but is confident the club have the facilities to help the former Stade Brest man.
"Something like that is going to live with him for a very long time, if not for the rest of his life," he said.
"It was very, very harrowing and he is actually a very sensitive lad. He's very popular in the dressing room.
"He's very quiet. He's got a wry sense of humour, but he's an exceptional fellow and I think he will take this very badly indeed.
"We have a number of people at the football club who I think can help him. Some of the players who are quite close to him will give him as much counselling as possible but I'm hoping in time he will be able to settle down and get back to playing."
