De la Cruz wins Villa recall

Ecuador international Ulises de la Cruz will return as part of a reshuffled Villa defence for the trip to St Mary’s.

De la Cruz’s inclusion at right-back will allow Mark Delaney to make the switch to central defence in place of Liam Ridgewell who starts a three-match ban for his sending-off against West Brom.

Midfielder Gavin McCann’s hopes of a comeback have been dashed as he suffered a reaction to his knee problem in a reserve outing against Nottingham Forest on Thursday and he is to see a specialist.

But Eric Djemba-Djemba came through 90 minutes after his recent lay-off with a hamstring injury and has a chance of being fit for next weekend’s home clash with Bolton.

Villa (from): Sorensen, De la Cruz, Delaney, Laursen, Samuel, Solano, Hendrie, Davis, Barry, Angel, Vassell, Hitzlsperger, Berson, Postma, Cole, L. Moore, Whittingham.