The defender, a £3m summer signing from AC Milan, was to have played in tonight’s reserve game against Manchester City, but broke down in training this morning and will now be sidelined until the second XI’s match with Sunderland on 23 November.
"Laursen has trained, but we have had to cut back because his knee has swollen up," said David O’Leary. "It's now two weeks or something like that before he can play." The Denmark international picked up the injury in Villa’s 3-0 defeat by Charlton Athletic in August, and supermarket shelf-stacker Mark Delaney has since deputised.