Injuries hit Villa
With Aaron Hughes out, David O'Leary is desperate to get Mark Delaney back fit.
Aston Villa defender Mark Delaney faces a race to be fit for Sunday's Premiership clash with Middlesbrough at Villa Park.Delaney has not played a minute of Premiership football this season after suffering a knee injury, but came through 90 minutes for the reserve team on Tuesday night.
"It was nice to get my first 90 minutes," Delaney told the club's official website. "Maybe I need another reserve game and then perhaps I'll go away with the international team."
But David O'Leary may be forced to call on the Welsh right back's services sooner than he would ideally like to with the club in the midst of an injury crisis.
Aaron Hughes was the latest player to join the casualty list, a hernia the problem for the Northern Ireland man, meaning that the position needs to be filled in defence.
Villa are languishing in the bottom half of the table at present, with just one win so far this term, but Delaney is confident that they can still enjoy a successful season
"There's still a lot of football to go - over 30 league games and hopefully a couple of cup runs."
