Villa line up bid for Albion defender

Aug 6 2007 By Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

MARTIN O'Neill will press ahead this week in his efforts to land Albion's Curtis Davies - but he already holds fears that Villa may not be able to offer anywhere near enough to prise away the talented centre-back.

O'Neill once again sent scouts to The Hawthorns on Saturday as Davies ignored the boo-boys to turn in a masterful performance against Heerenveen.

Liam Ridgewell's £2million move to Blues and continual fears that Martin Laursen's knees may not be able to survive the rigours of a long season of back-to-back matches, means O'Neill needs cover.

He will not talk specifically about Davies, but has explained his fears over losing Laursen at some point in the campaign.

He said: "Laursen has a heart the size of a lion. He and Olof Mellberg have played very well together, that does not mean we don't need some extra players.

"We are looking at that because Martin, with the best will in the world, could not see a season out. He is just not physically capable of doing that.

"So we need people in that position, at full-back and a few others. Gary Cahill is learning his trade and is improving and doing great, but we need someone else in there.

"Even looking at the squad in comparison to Inter Milan's, ours stopped halfway up the page. I'm addressing that. It's up to me."

Spurs are also interested in Davies but neither they, nor Villa, are ready to meet Albion's valuation, which is believed to be more than £8million.

Davies has three years remaining on a four-year deal he signed last summer and so Albion are in no rush to sell and chairman Jeremy Peace is looking for "head-turning" money.

Elsewhere, O'Neill is expected to sign at least one new right-back this week with Mark Delaney's footballing future now in grave doubt.