Martin Laursen is out for at least “three or four” weeks with his knee injury according to Martin O’Neill.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the 2-2 draw to Arsenal, the Villa boss confirmed that his great Dane skipper could yet face surgery after he suffered pain in his knee following the win over West Ham last weekend…

Laursen has apparently had painkilling injections and Villa are hoping that the injury will settle down, allowing the defender to make a return in under a month. He will miss Premiership encounters with Hull, West Brom and Sunderland in that time, with a possible return lined up against Portsmouth at Fratton Park at the end of January.

However, it must be said that Laursen does have a history of knee trouble and there is still a genuine fear that he could face surgery and a lengthier spell on the sidelines.

The Villa man is a massive fantasy favourite and is owned by over a third of managers in the Fantasy Premier League game. Just how many of those will hang on to his services during this spell of absence is yet to be seen but, given his current price (6.5), we should expect to see a lot of sales in the coming gameweeks with a price drop in the FPL and Guardian on the cards.

The likes of Vidic, facing up to a double fixture in gameweek 21, will surely be a major target, while Carvalho’s return expected next weekend, will also put him on the radar. Plus there’s an imminent return from injury for Liverpool’s Skrtel on the cards. Going down a price bracket, Hangeland and Paintsil present money saving options with Fulham still notching up defensive points, as does Wigan’s Taylor who blinked brightly on the radar with a goal against Newcastle yesterday.

Laursen’s absence meanwhile, could well have a big influence on the value of Friedel and Luke Young who are likely to struggle for clean sheets without the skipper in their side.