Soccer

Clark to play despite head wound

Soccer: Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish expects Republic of Ireland international Ciaran Clark to be fit for Saturday’s crucial…

Mon Apr 16 2012 - 01:00

Soccer:Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish expects Republic of Ireland international Ciaran Clark to be fit for Saturday's crucial Barclays Premier League encounter with Sunderland.

Clark’s return after an eight-match absence with a knee injury was cut short at Manchester United yesterday. Although the 22-year-old elected to continue after sustaining a nasty head wound in a collision with Patrice Evra, it soon became obvious Clark was too groggy to go on.

However, McLeish does not believe the versatile Irish international suffered any concussion during his side’s 4-0 defeat and expects to have Clark available to face the Black Cats at Villa Park. “Ciaran took a head knock but I don’t believe there was concussion.

“He has had stitches but he should be okay. Hopefully he is able to train this week and we will try to sharpen him up.” Out of form and ravaged by injury, few expected Villa to return from Old Trafford with any points to assist in their quest for Premier League survival.

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Defeats over the weekend for Blackburn and QPR mean the midlands club still have a healthy six-point buffer between themselves and the drop zone.

However, a home encounter with third-bottom Bolton and a trip to West Brom follow immediately after the Sunderland game and McLeish is demanding a winning run to end any lingering fears about a financially crippling collapse into the Championship.

“We have three cup finals coming up so the players have to stop feeling sorry for themselves and start recovering immediately,” said McLeish, who received more backing from his old mentor Sir Alex Ferguson.

“The plan is to secure our Premier League status and move forward from that. We have to improve. The last two seasons have not been good enough for Aston Villa’s name in this game.”

Villa have received some inspiration in their survival fight from skipper Stiliyan Petrov, who visited the club’s training ground last week after starting treatment for leukaemia. “Stan is good,” McLeish said. “He was at training and looks great.

“He has had a new haircut; it suits him. It looks fantastic. He was having a laugh with the players. We think the world of Stan and I am sure he will be there to rally the players in the coming games.”