Any time would struggle with the loss of their two first choice forwards, but the sad truth is that they probably wouldn't have made much difference. I really do not want to see Heskey in a Villa shirt ever again, and his final game for the club cannot come quickly enough. This season we're going to rely on being better than Wigan, Blackburn and Bolton for our fun.
I don't like saying this as he's a young player who I'd like to see do well, but Delph is rapidly approaching "another waste of money by O'Neill" territory.