John Carew blames his time away with Norway on Sunday's flat performance for Aston Villa at Manchester City.

He told Villa's website: "I felt tired and stiff after all the matches recently. I got it out of the system in the first 20 minutes, but it was no surprise that I was substituted in the second half.

"I shall now go home and rest. Fortunately, we don't have our next match until Sunday and then I expect to be fresh again."

Martin O'Neill has backed Carew to recapture the form that made him such a massive Villa Park hit over the second half of last season.

The Villa boss said: "John has got a little bit of a groin problem and we were going to play him for as long as we could. Most strikers thrive on goals and once he gets off the mark for us I think he'll be fine.

"The last thing I like to hear is that he is doing great for Norway, I'm the club manager for Aston Villa and I'd like him to do brilliantly for us."