Aston Villa blow as John Carew unlikely to feature in Vienna

Aug 17 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

“I have had an infection in my toe and it was really sore so I felt I could not play,” he said.

“I am hoping it will be okay and I will be on the plane to Vienna for the Europa game on Thursday.”

O’Neill has backed Fabian Delph to bounce back from a disappointing Premier League debut by becoming a “proper player” for Villa.

Delph failed to maintain the high standards he set in the previous weekend’s friendly against Fiorentina and was substituted after an hour.

“I think that in time he will be a real quality player,” said O’Neill, who started the teenager ahead of experienced midfielders Steve Sidwell and Nigel Reo-Coker.

“I thought he played well enough against Fiorentina to stand a chance and I thought I’d start him.

“I knew he would get tired in the game, but I wasn’t disappointed with him and he’s going to be a proper player for us, I know that.

“It’s going to be asking a lot for young players like that to come in and make an immediate impact, but he’ll do it.”

O’Neill refused to single out his creaking defence for criticism and insists it is his responsibility to repair Villa’s shattered confidence.

“I would prefer to be speaking about us as a whole,” he added.

“I wouldn’t have any comment in terms of the confidence of the central defenders. I thought that confidence within the side was lacking. It’s my job. I have restored confidence in teams before and that’s my job.”