Villa wait on N'Zogbia

Aston Villa winger Charles N’Zogbia is battling to overcome a tweaked knee ligament in time to face Arsenal in tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium.

Alex McLeish’s £9m summer signing from Wigan suffered the setback during training yesterday and his fitness will be assessed during the next 24 hours.

Striker Andreas Weimann is pushing for a start after scoring the winner against Fulham a fortnight ago. If N’Zogbia is ruled out, Weimann could play upfront with Gabriel Agbonlahor reverting to the wide role he has been employed in before this season.

Striker Darren Bent (ankle), defender Richard Dunne (shoulder) and midfielder Fabian Delph (ankle) remain long-term absentees while utility player Ciaran Clark is still recovering from a knee problem.

Provisional squad: Given, Guzan, Hutton, Lichaj, Collins, Cuellar, Warnock, Baker, Bannan, Petrov, Ireland, Albrighton, Agbonlahor, Heskey, N’Zogbia, Herd, Weimann, Marshall, Johnson, Gardner, Stevens, Delfouneso.