:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/2940536/GYI0065010342.jpg)
The Villa stalwarts each face around a month out.
Richard Dunne faces an anxious wait to discover the extent of the shoulder injury he sustained against Manchester City.
Dunne is being assessed by a specialist after landing awkwardly in an aerial challenge at the end of the Sky Sports Sunday game.
Manager McLeish was waiting for a definite prognosis on the problem but confirmed it looked like being at least a month on the sidelines for the defensive giant.
Ciaran Clark, meanwhile, damaged his knee ligaments in training on Saturday and looks set to miss several weeks.
In fact, it's now being reported as a fractured collarbone for Dunne, and at least two months out.
It's a real shame. I have had Clark in my fantasy team for a while now and he's brought good returns. I have him at 5.35, but I know some managers have him at 1-something. At that price it might be worth hanging on to him! You'll end up better off than moving to Bassong or somesuch.
I would never have kept Clark in my team against Manchester City either, if it weren't for Villa's good-looking upcoming fixtures. They are at Wigan in two-weeks time, then it's @Blackburn Rovers, and home for Fulham and Bolton.
My best guess is that Carlos Cuellar moves infield and that American (USA! USA!) Eric Lichaj plays at left back. He played in the reserve match last week and many were expecting that he would play against Manchester City. Alex McLeish went with the odd choice of putting Cuellar - a center, center-right sided player - there but if Stephen Warnock is indeed on the outs, then Lichaj is the obvious name.
That would set up nicely for fantasy manager as Lichaj is only 4.99 in the Yahoo! fantasy football game. His price and matchup would compare nicely to the other, similar options like Davide Santon, Stephen Kelly, or Andy Wilkinson, to name three.
In midfield, I would expect to see Gary Gardner continue alongside Petrov. He played well against City and indeed hes' been showing well over the last month. He's a 4.03 midfielder, and with the run Villa have upcoming, he could be a nice enabler/differential player. Chris Herd is back in training now, but it seems Gardner would hold on to his place ahead of the returning Australian.