West Brom's Paul Scharner blasts Villa for 'targeting' Shane Long

Oct 24 2011 By Chris Lepkowski

PAUL Scharner has accused Aston Villa of targeting Shane Long as West Bromwich Albion await news of the striker’s knee injury.

Long was forced off during Saturday’s derby following a horror challenge by Villa defender Alan Hutton.

The Baggies expect to discover the full extent of his injury today.

Manager Roy Hodgson revealed after Saturday’s 2-1 win that the striker’s injury was likely to be serious but hoped it would not be a major cruciate problem.

Even so, if Long has suffered ligament damage he could still be sidelined for some time.

Hodgson was scathing of Hutton following his X-rated tackle on the Republic of Ireland international – a challenge that went unpunished.

And Scharner accused Villa of targeting his colleague.

“You could see, especially in the first ten to 15 minutes, they tried very hard to kick Shane,” said the Austrian.

“If you are scoring three or four goals by this stage of the season, and you are always a threat, then defenders will be looking at you again.

“I think they got away with it and eventually Shane had to go off the field.

“There was some harsh tackling but hopefully it is not too bad.”

Hodgson has since said he will not be asking match referee Phil Dowd to review Hutton’s challenge.

The Football Association can only ask a match official to review TV footage if he has not seen the incident during the game and it is deemed to be an off-the-ball offence.