Aston Villa face Tottenham in north London on Wednesday night as we look to try and secure a positive end to the Premier League campaign with two games remaining.
Dean Smith will be hoping to see a positive reaction from his players after our bitterly disappointing defeat at Crystal Palace on Sunday, as we fell to a 3-2 loss at Selhurst Park despite twice taking the lead.
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With a top-half finish in the Premier League now looking increasingly unlikely, Villa will be playing for pride and to try and take some momentum into next season in two difficult games against Spurs and Chelsea.
Smith spoke to the media on Tuesday and provided the latest injury news on key individuals, while he also suggested that there could be room for some of the younger players to get a look in in midweek ahead of the FA Youth Cup Final next week.
Villa’s U18s face Liverpool at Villa Park on Monday night in the showpiece event, but there will no doubt be a balancing act between giving them experience and a confidence boost while also trying to avoid any unnecessary injuries.
“Morgan (Sanson) is still not available, he’s just got a recurrence of the knee injury so he’s out for the last couple of games,” Smith said, as per the club’s official site.
“Matty Cash the same with his hamstring, but I’m hopeful Tyrone Mings trains today.
“Jack [Grealish] is training today and then we’ll have a discussion with him after and with the medical staff to decide on the progress of his recovery. We had a plan for his comeback for the last four games and we’ll adapt that in terms of how he feels and how much loading he’s getting.
“It’s certainly difficult to manage because of the quality of the teams we’re playing. We’ve got some quality young players, probably tomorrow will be the best chance because come Sunday (against Chelsea) they’ve got an FA Youth Cup Final on the Monday. I’ll certainly want the players to play in that.
“It gives us an opportunity to look at things tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
Time will tell how we line up against Tottenham and which, if any, of the youngsters get a chance off the bench with the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka and Jaden Philogene-Bidace consistently making the bench in recent months.
The priority though, as always, will be putting out the team best suited to getting us three points, as it really would be a great way to end the season if we can finish it off positively after a difficult few months.