Villa’s deadline day loan signing Tom Carroll has been ruled out for the season having undergone surgery.
The 26 year old former Spurs prospect missed three months of the early season with a hip complaint, before a surprise switch to Villa Park at the end of the transfer window.
The midfielder made a brief appearance for Villa, before breaking down with a further hip complaint.
Whilst this was heavily played down in wider press and media reports, Carroll was absent from the matchday squad that beat Blackburn Rovers (2-1) last weekend.
Enquiries about the Swans player were covered off with the fact that Villa could only include five loan players at any one time.
However, the whispers proved correct and Carroll has undergone surgery to correct the problem, ruling him out for the remainder of the season.
Accordingly, he has returned to his parent club Swansea City, seeing his loan deal at Villa Park terminated with immediate effect.
Carroll departs Villa having made just two appearances.