Last Updated: Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:50
Martin O'Neill says he's hopeful of having John Carew available for the trip to Tottenham but is less confident about Stiliyan Petrov.
Norweigan international Carew has missed the last four games for Villa having picked up a knee injury but O'Neill is hopeful he can make his return in the big game at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
The news about Petrov is less good though as O'Neill says his skipper is in need of a rest and may be forced to leave him out of the side for the game against Spurs, with Steve Sidwell seemingly the favourite to replace him.
"He (Carew) has been training the last few days now and has had no reaction. Therefore, in terms of fitness, he would be in better condition than he was last week,'' O'Neill told the Birmingham Mail.
"Stiliyan we are just going to have to monitor. We have games coming up and he is keen to play on.
''In an ideal world this week would have given him a bit of a breather. That is a good thing but we don't have too many of those between now and the end of the season so we will have to see how it goes."
"Reo-Coker (being ruled out for three months with an ankle injury) has come at a really bad time for us because we could have done with his services in this hectic month."