John Carew is struggling to recover from injury in time for Aston Villa’s tricky away tie against Arsenal. The 29 year old is suffering with back and thigh problems and is expected to visit a specialist in order to ascertain the cause of the pain.

Aston Villa manager Martin O’ Neil said “John is really struggling at the moment…The discomfort seems to have moved from his back to the front thigh area…He had scans yesterday that have come up pretty decently…He is going for tests now with the specialist. We will see accordingly”.

Carew has become an important member of O’ Neil’s resurgent Villa side over the last few seasons. He joined the club from French side Lyon in 2007 and has scored 21 goals in 54 appearances.