Laursen hails surgeon after finest hour

Aug 20 2007

MARTIN Laursen paid tribute to top Colorado-based knee surgeon Dr Richard Steadman after arguably his best 90 minutes for Villa.

Then the Danish defender spoke of his delight at the return to fitness of Michael Owen who has also undergone surgery at the hands of the American specialist.

Laursen said: "I was really pleased to see Michael Owen back. He is a great player and I really hope that Dr Richard Steadman, who operated on my knee, has done a great job for him also."

Laursen was delighted with Villa's performance at St James' Park but said a little more patience will come in handy in the coming months.

"I think we did very well as a team. We are very pleased with our performance, we had some possibilities to score but we did great job.

"My feeling is that we can improve to keep the ball a bit better, perhaps we need some experience just to hold the ball a bit better and not to force the game all the time in trying to score. We need to keep possession better, and I think we can improve in that area."

Laursen's aerial dominance over Mark Viduka was a key element of the game.

He added: "It went well, as a centre half you are obviously happy when the opposition don't score."

Laursen came close to scoring at the both ends of the pitch, particularly with an early header which cannonned into Steve Harper's chest.

"I was close to scoring another own-goal this weekend, and I was glad that didn't do go in, but I think I was personally very unlucky not to score."