Town have more injury worries as they go into a eight-day break before the Villa game. Matteo Sereni and John McGreal are both nursing knocks after yesterday's defeat to Newcastle.

Burley said of the two players: "Matteo has a groin problem and John took a whack on the shin. We hope they're not serious, but we need to let them settle down before we know how bad they are. We have a decent break before our next game at Aston Villa in a week's time, so neither player is being ruled out."

Better news for the Town boss is that Martijn Reuser will return to training this week after suffering from a back and hip-related injury and is likely to be available at Villa Park. Ulrich Le Pen will also return to training this week.

George Burley added that Marcus Stewart would not be rushed back to help Town out of the crisis: "Only one person will decide when Marcus is ready to return and that's the specialist. The player's safety is what matters most. It was always envisaged that Marcus would have a small plate in his jaw until the end of January, but he hopes to be back playing at the start of next month."

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