Former Celtic midfielder Stan Petrov has been ruled out of football until the new year.
The Bulgarian internationalist was injured during the first half of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.
Petrov’s absence is a big blow to new Villa boss Gerard Houllier as he attempts to stamp his influence on the team.
The Villa boss admitted: “Unfortunately I think we have lost Stiliyan Petrov for maybe at least two months.
“We will see if he needs an operation or not and we will know that by the middle of the week.
“It is a shame because he was getting up to a good level and he had got man of the match in the previous game against Chelsea.”
Petrov was replaced by Steve Sidwell at the Stadium of Light with the former Celtic target now likely to get his chance to stake a claim for a regular first team place.
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