The 23-year-old’s absence would mean the end to a remarkable record of having played every minute of 56 successive matches since David O'Leary took charge of Villa 17 months ago.
The Irishman joked that such is the injury crisis at Villa Park, he and his assistant manager are next in the pecking order of defenders. "Roy Aitken and myself might make the bench yet, you never know," he said, his joke only slightly negated by the fact that he and Aitken were both putting on shin pads and choosing their squad numbers at the time.
With Samuel looking set to join Gareth Barry, Darius Vassell and Martin Laursen on the injury list, O’Leary will hopefully turn to rookie midfielder Peter Whittingham with Thomas Hitzlsperger coming into midfield. Otherwise, brace yourselves for the sight of an untoned 46-year-old man peeling off his tracksuit at Goodison on Saturday. And I do not mean Nigel Martyn.