PHILLIPS UNDERGOES ANKLE SURGERY

By Ryan Ghee
December 13 2005

Aston Villa striker Kevin Phillips has been forced to undergo keyhole surgery after his ankle injury turned out to be worse than first expected.

The former Sunderland and Southampton hitman has been struggling with the injury in recent weeks and he was forced to sit out the 1-1 draw with Bolton after the problem flared up in training.

Speaking earlier on today, David O'Leary confirmed that Phillips was to go under the knife: "We believe there could be a little bit of floating bone that's causing him problems," the Villa boss commented.

"It's irritating him, but hopefully it won't put him out for too long. Until we know the results of the surgery, we can't say just how long."