Aston Villa back James Collins' decision to back out of Wales duty

Aston Villa today backed James Collins' decision to forego international duty as the defender continues to build up his fitness.

Assistant manager Peter Grant has revealed the Wales centre-back has been battling through a return to Premier League duty, despite only being able to train a couple of days a week.

The key defender is one of eight Villa men labouring under injury at the moment and the club believe the two-week break from the frontline will work in their favour.

Grant said: "In the last few weeks, James has only been training two days a week maximum. It's a bit of everything.

"We got to the bottom of his foot injury but that was giving him a problem with his knee because he couldn't walk right. It just inflamed his knee a little bit, so we've let that settle down and he needed to get an injection."