Villa's Richard Dunne feels hard done by

Richard Dunne has lifted the lid on his injury nightmare and revealed his frustrations at the longest spell on the sidelines of his career.

The Villa centre-back sustained a fractured collarbone against Manchester City last month and is not scheduled to return until early May.

And the 32-year-old Ireland centre-back admitted he is not a good patient for the club's medical staff having been an infrequent visitor to the treatment table since he made his debut for Everton in 1997.

"The lads have only played three games but it feels like I've been out for ages," said Dunne.

"There's not an amazing amount of pain at the moment. It's just waiting and hoping that when I go back to see the surgeon he'll say everything is fine and I can carry on.

"Luckily, I've never had anything serious wrong with me. It's been frustrating. As soon as it happens you think, 'When will I be back playing?' You're always hoping it's sooner rather than later.

"I've never really had an injury where I've been out for a long period of time. I've had injuries and needed operations but I've always put them off until the summer. I've never missed an awful lot of games. I think this is the longest period I've ever been out."