Villa wait on four

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish will check on the fitness of a quartet of players before finalising his side for tomorrow’s home clash with Sunderland in the Barclays Premier League.

Utility player Ciaran Clark and Chris Herd (both head), fellow defender Stephen Warnock (ankle) and winger Marc Albrighton (hamstring) have returned to training and will be assessed in the next 24 hours.

Striker Darren Bent has resumed light running after his ankle operation although he will not feature again this season.

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