Villa may give debut to young striker

Aston Villa will give a debut to 19-year-old Gabriel Agbonlahor if the club’s striking crisis does not ease in the next 24 hours.

Milan Baros (ankle) is out against Everton while Kevin Phillips (virus) and Juan Pablo Angel (ankle) are doubtful which could leave Luke Moore as the only fit senior front player.

James Milner (virus) has been advised to rest for a week but Lee Hendrie has recovered from a similar illness and will replace the on-loan Newcastle midfielder.

Eric Djemba-Djemba returns to the squad after being disciplined for his late return from the African Nations Cup but Patrik Berger’s Achilles problem rules him out.

Team (from): Sorensen, Taylor, Hughes, Mellberg, Ridgewell, Bouma, Samuel. Hendrie, McCann, Davis, Barry, Whittingham, Moore, Phillips, Angel, Agbonlahor, De la Cruz, Djemba-Djemba, Gardner.