Smiler has a bruised foot

Smiler McCann is injured and it's not doing Aston Villa any good. He needs to be taken out for a match or two until the bruising in in his foot heals.

I'm no Doctor but I'm not alone in thinking he's not playing great football at the moment and if he's injured then surely that's going to be a contributing factor.

I'm not sure who he told as I've not seen it on the official club site but he picked it up in the match against Spurs and it's bothered him ever since.

"I kicked someone's studs against Spurs and my foot has been bruised ever since. It's been giving me a little bit of stick. Something triggered it off again in the recent game with Watford and I needed treatment for a few days afterwards.

"But thankfully it's not usually a real problem when I'm playing. It's usually after the game when I feel it."

Thankfully we have a break coming up after Reading of over three weeks so assuming he plays this weekend that should be plenty of time for the bruising to go away. Did I just write that; three weeks without football?

Three weeks is a long time without football and some say we're playing too many games. Expect a few players to come back for March 3rd with suntans.