Aston Villa striker John Carew could return for Saturday’s Premiership clash at Middlesbrough but Martin O’Neill has urged his side not to revert to long balls in a bid to exploit the height and power of the Norwegian international.
Carew missed the Easter games against Blackburn and Wigan because of a calf strain and his absence led to Villa adopting more of a passing game as they looked to use the pace of Gabriel Agbonlahor.
But O’Neill insisted Carew also preferred the ball being played into his feet rather than in the air despite his excellent control.
O’Neill said: "John Carew is getting better each day - but we don’t know whether he’ll be right for Middlesbrough.
"There has been a tendency, certainly in the early part of games, to get to John Carew quickly because he’s there. In actual fact, Carew prefers to get the ball down and manoeuvre.
"I think it’s been a good lesson for us in his absence. We’ve played two games without him and we’ve shown we’re capable of playing.
"The idea is not to hit Carew at all times, but to play around him and to play into his feet."
Defender Gary Cahill is another making good progress after also missing the last two games with a sore side. But Villa are sweating over the fitness of Wilfred Bouma who suffered a leg injury against Wigan.
