Fabio Capello, whose England squad is filled with its own injury woes, gave Gabriel Agbonlahor a rare call up to the Three Lions. Unfortunately for Gabby, his ongoing groin injury ruled him out of contention for England, with West Ham striker Carlton Cole being called up in his place. While it's likely a positive development for Aston Villa that the fragile forward won't be risking further injury--Nathan Delfouneso is all we've got left, and he's rather inconsistent, to put it mildly--it's a sad moment for Agbonlahor, who only has three England caps. Meanwhile, Stephen Warnock has been called up to replace the injured Ashley Cole, so fingers crossed that the Wembley pitch doesn't claim yet another Villan.
In further injury news, Richard Dunne has re-tweaked his knee, leaving him out of Ireland's friendly against Norway. Ciaran Clark, England-born but choosing to play for the Republic, is also unable to play for his new squad, ruled out with a calf injury. While not confirmed, I'm going to assume that John Carew is also unable to play in this friendly, although his one goal this season came in international play.
The bigger worry, of course, is the fact that now Villa defenders are falling like a carefully arranged row of dominoes. With Dunne out, it would be Carlos Cuellar that should step up and into the center back slot, but he's out with a calf injury. Obviously Clark, who's been playing as a central midfielder but is typically a central defender, can't step in. Habib Beye is still injured. Eric Lichaj is a full back. Who steps in? Shane Lowry?