Aston Villa: John Carew takes first steps towards Villa comeback
Jan 17 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail
Villa have made light of Carew’s absence, successfully reverting to a 4-5-1 formation and embarking on a nine-game unbeaten Premier League run.
But even though his team have strengthened their grip on a top-four spot without their trusted target-man, O’Neill is keen to see Carew return.
It could take a while for last season’s top scorer to get back up to match fitness.
O’Neill said: “It would be tough having been out for eight or nine weeks.
“It would be a great boost for us at this stage. It’s early days, but we’d love to get him back.
“The new system was almost forced upon us with John going out of the side,” he said.
“It’s worked out very well indeed but there’s always room for decent players.
“We’ll be getting to the stage where we’ve got a few hovering around suspensions so we’ll need every able-bodied man,” added O’Neill.
Villa were given more encouraging news when Wilfred Bouma also returned to training on Thursday after the serious ankle injury he sustained back in July, although the left-back felt sore following his first session.
Meanwhile, Villa have been granted a work permit renewal for Moustapha Salifou after his initial paperwork expired following Togo’s fall down the FIFA rankings.
