Aston Villa boss pays tribute to missing defender
Martin O'Neill admits Aston Villa have sorely missed the "big heart" of injured skipper Martin Laursen after seeing their hopes of securing Champions League football virtually disappear.
Laursen is expected to finally announce he will be quitting the game during the next few days after the latest in a long line of knee setbacks.
The 31-year-old has been sidelined since early January when he appeared in the 2-1 home success over West Brom.
And O'Neill concedes Villa have struggled to replace his dominating presence in the penalty area and his knack of scoring vital goals at set-pieces.
O'Neill said: "We have missed Martin greatly. We have won matches without him this season but his overall contribution and absence has been a big loss.
"We have conceded 26 goals in 12 games but had only conceded three in the previous eight games when Martin hadn't played.
