Villa lose Alpay and Kachloul

Aston Villa FC defender Alpay Özalan is facing up to six weeks on the sidelines after suffering ankle ligament damage in Saturday's 2-0 defeat at home to Leicester City FC.

Initial fears
The Turkish international has also told of his initial fears that he had broken his leg following a bad fall midway through the second half. "In the 59th minute of the game, I tried to catch the ball by jumping," Alpay told the club's official website.

'Felt the pain'
"However, I lost my balance and fell down, directly down on my ankle. I cannot explain the pain I felt at that moment. I thought that I had broken my leg. Many times, I have seen players breaking their legs or getting heavily injured. Each time I imagined the pain and felt the pain with them," added Alpay.

Kachloul out
Villa were dealt another blow on Monday when Moroccan international Hassan Kachloul was ruled out of action for three weeks after suffering concussion in his side's English League Cup encounter with Sheffield Wednesday FC last week.

Accidental collision
Kachloul was detained in hospital after suffering the setback in an accidental collision with Wednesday goalkeeper Kevin Pressman. He admitted that he endured a loss of memory regarding the Villa Park stadium match, which Wednesday won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Efan Ekoku.

'Don't remember anything'
"The scan revealed that a little vein had been cut in my brain and it has been bleeding," he said. "I was asking questions all the time in the dressing room after I came off. I don't remember anything but my team-mates have told me I was a bit groggy. The day after when I woke up in hospital I wasn't sure about the result of the game."