Villa Right-Back Near Comeback?

Welsh international right-back Mark Delaney is reportedly getting closer to a return following treatment from Dr Richard Steadman in Colorado.

The Villa defender, whose contract runs out at the end of this season, has suffered with a season long struggle with a knee injury.

Having just returned from Dr Steadman this week he told the official site: ‘I’ve been with the doctor for three or four days and he’s over the moon with my knee. He said it looks absolutely fine and it feels great. He’s very positive and pleased with how it’s going and how well it will respond to running. But at the moment, the muscles are quite weak around the knee so I can’t run just yet.’

‘Overall I’m pretty pleased. I’ve just got to do more strengthening work on my leg to ensure the knee can do a lot more work. There’s no indication as to how long it’s going to be. It could be a week or a month, but the main thing is that my knee is good. I haven’t done a lot with the muscle, but he said once I start working on it, it will come back quite quickly.’

‘I’ve been told to do a lot more of my strengthening exercises and incorporate heavier weights to build the muscles up. He’s told me not to hold back.’

Terrible timing for him, be interesting to see if Villa look to extend his contract, maybe pay as you play deal, in order for Martin O’Neill to be able to see what an asset a fit Delaney is! He has certainly been missed this season.