Steven Davis looks set to be ruled out of Aston Villa's match at home to Manchester City in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday.

The Northern Ireland international midfield player sustained the injury in training during preparations for the match against Newcastle United last Saturday and is rated by David O'Leary, the Villa manager, as doubtful.

Without Davis, Villa lost 2-1 to Newcastle and O'Leary's squad is in danger of being decimated for the match against City.

"Steven has a calf injury," O'Leary said. "He is doubtful for the FA Cup match against Manchester City. That is why it was so important Eirik Bakke stayed here [on loan] to give us some cover but he was sent back to Leeds for economic reasons."

Craig Gardner, who made an impressive full debut against Newcastle, setting up the goal for Luke Moore, damaged knee ligaments late in the match and could be ruled out until the middle of March. The timing could hardly have been worse for the 19-year-old midfield player.

Jlloyd Samuel and Lee Hendrie also sustained injuries, although both could be in the running for places in the squad for the match. On the credit side, O'Leary can welcome back James Milner and Gavin McCann, giving the midfield a significant boost.

Milner was ineligible for the match against Newcastle while McCann was serving a suspension.

Villa need both of them. The FA Cup is the club's only realistic opportunity of playing European football next season and victory would secure a quarter-final place for the first time since 2000.

Patrik Berger has returned to training with Villa after a 3 1/2-month lay-off with a knee injury. The former Liverpool midfield player had expected to be on the sidelines for three weeks.

Berger, who has not played since Villa's defeat away to Manchester City in late October, underwent an operation in England but, with hindsight, would have been better going to the United States.

Berger is hoping to play for the Villa reserve team against Sunderland on February 22.

Villa will need to show dramatic improvement at Villa Park if they are going to defeat Manchester City.

The defeat to Newcastle means that Villa have won only three Premiership matches at home this season, an unacceptable return for a team who began the campaign with an eye on qualifying for Europe.

Mark Delaney expects to leave Villa Park in the summer after claiming that the club do not want him to remain on the staff. Villa have the option of employing Delaney for another season and must inform him of their decision by March 1.

However, Delaney has heard nothing to suggest that he has a future with Villa and his days with the club appear to be numbered.

"I'm settled at Villa. I'd like to stay here but, for me personally, I don't think it is going to happen," Delaney said. "There are only 2 1/2 weeks to the deadline of March 1 and I've had no feedback at all. I tried to sort things out last year and nothing happened.

"I don't think the club will invoke the 12-month option. They've had enough time to realise what I am capable of. I think they would have done it by now if it was going to happen.

"All the lads have been pretty supportive. I just need the right people at the club to say the right things and then I can settle down and start concentrating on my football a bit more.

"I've had my fair share of injuries but I've worked out that I've played at least 30-35 games on average every season. I've also been on the end of a couple of bad challenges which has nothing to do with being injury-prone.

"But, if that's not enough, and they see something in me they don't like, then I'm big enough to take it. When people don't say anything, you start wondering why?"

Olof Mellberg, the Villa captain, is baffled as to why Villa are better away than they are at home. In previous seasons, the opposite was the problem.

"Overall, it hasn't been good enough at Villa Park," Mellberg said. "The performances haven't been good enough. We have conceded too many goals and not scored that many at the other end.

"Taking away the Everton match, where we hit four, we haven't hit the target often enough. We are doing really well away from home though. We have more points on the road than at Villa Park.

"It was a disappointing game against Newcastle and I feel we had enough chances to score at least three goals.

"I thought it was a poor first half and we didn't defend well, particularly on their goals.

"I don't think they had many other chances, other than the ones they scored. Despite that I feel we had enough chances to get the three points.

"It was a terrible start, conceding so early, but we felt there were goals in the game.

"They had quality players in Shearer and Ameobi but we felt we could get something at the other end."