RICHARD DUNNE is expected to return to the Aston Villa first team in mid-April after undergoing surgery on the shoulder injury sustained in Sunday’s game against Manchester City. He should join up with the Republic of Ireland squad ahead of the European Championships.
The 32-year-old defender broke his right clavicle as he fell badly following an attempted challenge on City goalkeeper Joe Hart. It was believed he had dislocated the shoulder but tests revealed the broken bone and the need for immediate surgery.
“We’re gutted to be losing the big man,” said Villa manager Alex McLeish. “He was trying to get us back in the game when he made a tremendous leap but, unfortunately, he landed badly on his shoulder and fractured the collarbone. It’s not good for us to be without such a top player and a defender of his massive experience.”
McLeish also confirmed that Ciarán Clark will be laid up for a shorter spell after damaging knee ligaments during training over the weekend.
Dunne is now looking at a target date of around April 13th – the visit to Manchester United – for a return to Villa’s first team. If the Dubliner can prove his fitness by then it will be a major boost to Giovanni Trapattoni, who views the central defender as one of the key members of his squad.
Some delay in the schedule would not be regarded as disastrous by the Italian. Villa have four league games lined up following the clash at Old Trafford, before the season ends on May 13th.
Even if Dunne did not play in any of them, he would have a month to prove his fitness before Ireland take on Croatia in Poland on June 10th.
During that time, Trapattoni would hope to be in a position to bring Dunne in for an extended training camp in Dublin followed by the game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the week-long trip to Italy and then the friendly with Hungary in Budapest.
The Ireland manager will give him every opportunity to re-establish his fitness given the success of the partnership formed between the Villa defender and Seán St Ledger over the past couple of seasons.
He has, however, been quick to acknowledge that Dunne will be in no position to play a part in this month’s friendly against the Czech Republic, with Trapattoni opting yesterday to call up Everton’s Shane Duffy in his place.
Duffy said yesterday that he was “buzzing” after receiving the news but, especially with Clark unavailable, the decision is no great surprise with the young defender having made considerable progress in recent months.
Having spent the first half of the season on loan at Scunthorpe in League One, where he saw a lot of action, he came on as a late substitute in Everton’s victory against Chelsea on Saturday.
The 20-year-old has yet to be capped at senior level and may have to wait a little longer for the opportunity given the likes of Darren O’Dea and Stephen Kelly would be far more likely to replace Dunne.
The team's main sponsors, Three, meanwhile, have announced that they will make 1,000 tickets available for the Czech game available at 3pm today. Details are available through facebook.com/3football.
