Luke Young says Aston Villa's season has come undone with the knee problems of skipper Martin Laursen.

Young said: "Martin has been a big loss for us. He is one of those players, a little bit like a magnet in both penalty boxes.

"He wins everything when we are defending and he goes up the other end of the pitch, he scores some vital goals - and players like that are vital.

"It relieves so much pressure when you see him going up and winning absolutely everything in the air. He is a big loss to us and fingers crossed he can get back."

Young added: "When you've got problems with your knees, you can't rush things.

"You've got to make sure you are 100% right and hopefully he can get himself right and that we will see the best of him again."