Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard provided the latest team news in his press conference on Friday, with updates on the likes of Morgan Sanson and Douglas Luiz.
Villa travel to London this weekend to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park looking to record back-to-back wins to start Gerrard’s tenure in charge.
READ MORE: Gerrard faces key task to get best out of record Villa man Buendia
Having been blighted by injury concerns throughout the campaign thus far, Gerrard will no doubt be hoping to have a fully-fit Villa squad at his disposal sooner rather than later, but it appears as though he may have to wait a little longer.
Speaking to the press on Friday ahead of the game, he provided updates on several first-team players, and there was mixed news on the whole as he waits for more options to become available to him.
“It’s positive for us,” he told the media, as per the club’s official site. “In terms of the longer term injuries, Trezeguet is training well and he’s completed his first full week of training. The idea with him will be to complete a second week and then look to get him some game minutes in an under-23 fixture. He’s progressing well.
“Bertrand Traoré is still going to be some weeks away, so we need to be patient on that one.
“Sanson has trained fully. He’ll travel with us and be part of the squad. Douglas Luiz will come into the squad as well, so positive news from an injury point of view.”
Getting both Sanson and Luiz back will be important for Villa to bolster our options in midfield, while Traore and Trezeguet will offer something different in the final third and will certainly hope to force their way into Gerrard’s long-term plans at the club.
Time will tell when we’ll see them all back, but it sounds as though we could see a similar starting XI to that which featured against Brighton last time out, and it’s hoped that the win last weekend has boosted confidence and belief within the group to go out and back it up with another victory as we look to start climbing the Premier League table.