The former Celtic and Blackburn striker, who was capped once for England against Cameroon, moved to Villa from Birmingham early last season but only managed nine matches before the injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.
It was one of the features of his career with Celtic – where he won 3 SPL titles, 2 Scottish Cups and helped the club to the EUFA Cup Final – that he was plagued with unusual, niggling injuries for much of the time.
