Villa chief plays down duo fears

Paul Lambert is confident Matthew Lowton and Nathan Delfouneso will be fit for Aston Villa's Premier League opener at West Ham.

The Villa chief has been hit by several injury problems throughout pre-season as Gabby Agbonlahor, Richard Dunne and Marc Albrighton are definitely missing from the opening weeks of the new campaign because of respective knee, groin and foot injuries. Chris Herd is also ruled out due to a thigh injury, while summer signing, Lowton, and forward, Delfouneso, are the latest players in the Bodymoor Heath treatment room following the trip to Germany. However, with the new season just five days away, Lambert is satisfied that the duo will be available for selection at Upton Park on Saturday. "Matty just had a knock on his ankle when we trained in Germany on Friday, but it's just a minor one," said Lambert in the Birmingham Mail. "Chris has got a thigh strain at the minute and his is a little bit more serious, so he'll probably miss next weekend. "Nathan got hurt against Forest and he trained last week, but it never felt quite right. He's just got a little strain as well, but he's not too bad."