Curtis Davies has ruptured his Achilles tendon in Villa’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and now faces atleast six months on the sidelines.

Martin O’Neill told www.avfc.co.uk: “Curtis has ruptured his Achilles tendon and he’s going to have an operation tonight. We’re really disappointed for him.”

“He’s been doing really well and that’s a sickener. But he’ll be back. He misses the rest of the season and it’s really cruel because he’s been doing splendidly. It would have been nice to have won the game for him.”