Villa are now 24 hours away from kicking off the Premier League’s restart following the pause due to Covid-19.
Sheffield United are the visitors to Villa Park (read the full Match Preview here) in a game that will be played behind closed doors.
Here is the very latest Aston Villa injury news ahead of what is a vitally important fixture, with Smith looking to lift us out of the relegation places.
WESLEY OUT
The Brazilian striker will not feature against The Blades and is recuperating follow a serious knee injury.
Wesley was the victim of a strong challenge during Villa’s New Years day victory over Burnley.
Whilst the £22 million pound striker’s form had been indifferent at times, his absence could leave Villa light in terms of attacking options if either Samatta or Davies (himself injury prone) became unavailable.
HEATON – OUT
Tom Heaton suffered a similar knee injury to Wesley during the same game against Burnley, ironically also his former club.
Aside from a debut howler to concede a penalty, Heaton has been outstanding between the sticks, bringing both experienced and a presence to our defence.
However, the England international’s season appears to be over, with no chance of him featuring against Sheffield United, or indeed, again this campaign.
JED STEER
Villa’s playoff hero Jed Steer has repeatedly had to bide his time since joining from Norwich City in 2013. Indeed, his time at Villa has largely been spent enduring periods of long term injury or frequent loan spells.
The 27 year old’s stock rose significantly during Villa’s promotion campaign from the Championship, following poor form and injury to Orjan Nyland.
Steer had been expected to miss the rest of the 2019/2020 season having partially ruptured his achilles in November (2019).
However, the suspension of the league due to Covid-19 has enabled Steer time to recover, thus making him available for selection.
Steer finds himself in direct competition with loanne ‘keeper Pepe Reina and Norwegian international Orjan Nyland for the number one jersey.
JOHN MCGINN
Villa looked set to play out the relegation run in without our key midfielder John McGinn.
The Scottish Football Writers Player of The Year broke his ankle during Villa’s December defeat to Southampton at Villa Park.
McGinn’s return to fitness could be the difference for Villa in a midfield that has lacked an engine in his absence.
This is a massive injury boost ahead of the Sheffield United game, a team known for both good football but also a combative nature under Chris Wilder.
In other extremely positive news, McGinn also played a part in Villa’s friendly / training sessions against West Brom and Leicester.
His featuring for at least 30 minutes can only have served to improve both match fitness and Villa’s outlook on Wednesday evening.
It’s expected that McGinn will go straight back into the starting eleven, with the only questions for Dean Smith: Who will partner him and in what formation?
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