Aston Villa: What’s the latest injury news at Villa Park?

Aston Villa’s injury concerns have eased, with only midfielder Marvelous Nakamba set for an extended spell on the sidelines.

Elsewhere, winger Leon Bailey remains unavailable due to injury, although he is nearing a return to action following the severe thigh strain he sustained against Manchester City on December 1.

Villa boss Steven Gerrard can therefore soon expect to have near enough a full complement of players available to him once Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet return from Africa Cup of Nations duty with Burkina Faso and Egypt respectively.

Gerrard has confirmed he expects Bailey to return to training within ten to 14 days and this time the club will hope there is no recurrence of the problem which first struck when Bailey thumped home his solitary Villa goal at home to Everton in September.

Bailey is unlikely to be considered for selection for Villa’s next fixture at home to Leeds on February 9, but he is firmly in the frame to play some part at Newcastle four days later.

Fellow winger Traore only returned to training late last month after sustaining a thigh injury of his own ten weeks earlier against Spurs, but he has made an instant impression on international duty in the AFCON in Cameroon.

Having already hit the crossbar with an earlier penalty, captain Traore made amends by opening the scoring in the last 16 tie against Gabon and Burkina Faso eventually triumphed 7-6 on penalties to book a quarter-final against Tunisia on Saturday.

Trezeguet’s Egypt are in last 16 action against Ivory Coast tomorrow (Wednesday). The tournament concludes on February 6.

Nakamba is still expected to be out of action until late March at the earliest with the knee injury he sustained against Liverpool in mid-December.

He underwent successful surgery within days but will face a struggle to regain full match fitness until the season is in the home stretch.

Centre-back Ezri Konsa had been a major doubt for last weekend’s clash at Everton with the hip injury which forced his withdrawal against Manchester United, but the 24-year-old made a quick recovery to play a starring role in Saturday’s 1-0 success on Merseyside.

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