Sky Sports News is reporting that Aston Villa's last remaining senior striker, John Carew, will be out up to three weeks with a torn calf muscle. With Gabriel Agbonlahor still nursing a groin injury, and Emile Heskey sidelined with a knee knock, and (how can we forget) Andreas Weimann out with an ankle issue, that leaves Aston Villa with one remaining striker.
Nineteen-year-old Nathan Delfouneso is the only healthy forward that Aston Villa have available to play in the match against Fulham this weekend. Delfouneso is one of the few youngsters that Gerard Houllier has chosen not to use in his first team side this year, but he's now out of options. The Villa manager will either have to use the young striker or play Ashley Young as a true center forward. Ash isn't meant to be a center-forward-he needs someone else up there to distract the defense, hold the ball up and give him the opportunity to work.
Prior to the injury, Houllier had said that Carew would be stepping in to replace Heskey, with barely a mention of Delfouneso. Although he hasn't seen much time with the first team, the minutes he has had have been enough to impress observers. There must be something that's holding Houllier back, if he wants to play the utterly ineffective Carew over Delfouneso. Now the question is, will Aston Villa play without a true forward, or will they give the youngster a chance?