Young seeks specialist advice

Young: Lengthy absence

Aston Villa defender Luke Young has visited a specialist in an effort to resolve his ongoing knee problems.

The versatile 31-year-old has struggled with a number of niggling knocks this season, with his knee issue coming on the back of hip and ankle trouble.

A combination of these various ailments have kept him sidelined since early December, with his last outing coming in a 3-0 defeat at Liverpool.

Both player and club are determined to get to the bottom of the matter and Villa boss Gerard Houllier admits further medical advice has now been sought.

"Luke saw a specialist yesterday [Wednesday] in London, so it will depend what the results are," said the French tactician.

Regular

"He does training and he doesn't feel anything and then at training the following day he feels something.

"Obviously we need to sort it out.

"I played him regularly every game until the Liverpool game and then after that he got injured and never came back."

Stewart Downing is another Villan currently nursing a knock, with the England winger taking a blow to his shin against Manchester United on Tuesday, but Houllier is confident he will be ready to face Fulham this weekend.

He added: "Stewart should be okay for Fulham. It was just a kick on the side of his shin."