Aston Villa's Championship opponents unveiled as Unai Emery's men take on 'secret' fixture

The Villans will take on Danny Röhl’s men in a bid to maintain fitness and match sharpness during the first few days of the October international break.

Röhl admitted on the weekend that Wednesday would “play a friendly game against a very good opponent”, and that has now been unveiled as Villa. Our sister publication, The Star, reports the two teams will face one another in a match completely shut off from the outside world.

It’s a mystery as to just how strong the lineups will be for the game but Villa definitely won’t be fielding Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne, Leon Bailey, Pau Torres, Ollie Watkins, Jhon Duran, Kosta Nedeljkovic, Joe Gauci or Ian Maatsen as all nine players have received international call-ups.

The likes of John McGinn, Amadou Onana, Jacob Ramsey and Ezri Konsa, meanwhile, are recovering from injuries. There could be some minutes for Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara, however, as both long-term absentees are back in full training and pushing toward their competitive returns.

For Wednesday, those away with their national teams and unavailable to face Villa are James Beadle, Di’Shon Bernard, Shea Charles and Pierce Charles. Fringe first-team players Callum Paterson, Ben Hammer and Charlie McNeill are likely to gain run-outs for the Owls.