Aston Villa’s Marc Albrighton hopes for Pet rescue
Tuesday 21st December 2010, 11:29AM GMT.
Marc Albrighton hailed the inspirational qualities of Stiliyan Petrov as the Villa captain closes in on a return from injury.
Petrov has been on the sidelines with a knee problem he sustained against Sunderland in late October, but should be available early in the new year.
And Albrighton believes Villa can only benefit from the Bulgarian midfielder’s presence in the starting line-up.
“He will bring a lot to the team when he comes back and it will be great to have him back,” said the Villa winger.
“As well as being a voice on the pitch he leads by example and the lads respect that.
“He encourages you on the pitch and lets his feelings be known. But he leads by the way he plays too, always giving 100 per cent to the side in every game.”
Albrighton also admitted that Villa’s players are itching to play after last weekend’s Premier League clash with Wigan was postponed.
The claret and blues host Tottenham on Boxing Day and the 21-year-old wideman hopes the weather improves sufficiently to allow the match to take place.
“It was a frustrating weekend,” added Albrighton.
“You just want to play.
“It was a big game too because we really wanted to pick up the three points. It’s just a shame the game had to be called off. There’s a real feeling of deflation.”
By Tim Abraham
UK Sport
Latest Blog — A week is a long time in football
This time last week we were staring down the barrel, third from bottom with a worse record than at the same stage last year, writes Saddlers blogger Mark Jones.
Saddlers Blog
Business Awards
Book a Business Awards table
Join our celebrations of the region's best in business on Thursday March 22 - book your table now
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Express & Star and Shropshire Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases
OUR NEW APP
Get the new E&S app
Download the Express & Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
expressandstar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
