N´Zogbia injury worries McLeish

Aston Villa midfielder Charles N’Zogbia will visit a knee specialist after straining ligaments in training, manager Alex McLeish has confirmed.

The French winger missed Villa’s 3-0 defeat by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and will now head to Paris to be assessed.

Villa boss McLeish told Villa’s official website: “The long-term diagnosis is that Charles is going to go to Paris to see a specialist.

“The doctor is taking him and they will look at the knee.

“He has got a ligament strain from a clash of knees with Gary Gardner in training two days ago.”

McLeish added that N’Zogbia’s absence would be a big loss given his recent improvement in form.

“It was a blow to lose Charles. He was in decent form and getting better with every game,” the Scot said.

Further injury worries came this weekend for Villa as Alan Hutton limped out of the clash with Arsenal.

McLeish explained the details of the injury: “He had an injection this morning because he has been struggling with his heel.

“I hope it is not too bad but he was actually complaining about his calf when he came off.

“We can’t afford to be without any more experienced players because that was down to the last 11 that you saw today. The rest of them were injured and we had six young players on the bench.”