RICHARD DUNNE’S SPELL on the sidelines is set to continue into the New Year after he suffered another setback.
The 33-year-old, who has not feature at all for Aston Villa this season, returned to training three weeks ago after recovering from an injury which he picked up at Euro 2012.
However, the Dubliner has failed to shake off a groin problem with the club’s medical team putting him through a series of tests in an attempt to discover the cause.
At his press conference yesterday, Goal.com report Villa boss Paul Lambert as saying: ”Richard went for a test on Saturday and went for another one on Thursday.”
“We are now crossing out what we think it might be. It’s just really, really frustrating.
“We are unsure what it is. But it is an on-going problem. It is in the groin area and I think this is what we have to nail down and put to bed one way or another to get to the bottom of the problem.
At the present time we have no idea when he will be available to play again. I would say he is out to the new year, the way it is going at the moment.”
While Ciaran Clark is likely to continue to deputise for the veteran defender at club level, Giovanni Trapattoni will be desperate to have Dunne back for Ireland’s World Cup qualifiers with Sweden and Austria next March.
Clubmate Enda Stevens, meanwhile, is out of today’s meeting with QPR after picking up a knock to his ankle last weekend’s game against Arsenal.
