Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has hit out at England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce for not substituting midfielder Craig Gardner on Tuesday.O'Neill is annoyed as Gardner complained of being injured during the goalless friendly draw with Poland at Molineux.

Gardner suffered a thigh injury midway through the opening 45 minutes and made the England management aware of his problem but he was kept on until half-time before finally being taken off.

Now Gardner is facing a three-game absence with the setback including Saturday's Premier League clash at leaders Manchester United.

O'Neill told Villa's official website: "It's a thigh injury. I don't know whether there were plans for him to come off at half-time in the Under-21 game or not.

"But Craig did complain about the injury with 20 minutes to go in the first half.

"He made it clear that his thigh was particularly sore and it's disappointing that he had to stay on the field for the rest of the time.

"Now he misses some games for us."

Gardner, who has been operating for Villa as an emergency right-back, looks set to also miss the games against Bolton and Derby after being ruled out for two to three weeks.

Olof Mellberg will return to the side in Gardner's absence for the trip to Old Trafford.

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