Aston Villa will host Queens Park Rangers at Villa Park on New Year’s Day as they look to return to winning ways.
The Villans were held to a point at the weekend when they drew with Preston North End and Dean Smith will want to see his side continue their push towards the playoffs.
Lovre Kalinic will officially join the Championship outfit on January 1, however, it is unlikely that he will be able to make his first appearance until the weekend, which will come as a blow as Orjan Nyland has been ruled out with an injury blow.
Jack Grealish remains unavailable with a shin injury, whilst Axel Tuanzebe (foot) and Neil Taylor (hamstring) are also out on the sidelines.
Both Tommy Elphick and Jed Steer could feature after being recalled from their loan spells at Hull City and Charlton Athletic respectively.
The Verdict:
Aston Villa will have a tough test ahead of them when they host QPR at Villa Park on Tuesday and it looks as though it could be even tougher without a number of their key players.
The news that Nyland, Grealish, Tuanzebe and Taylor will be unavailable will come as a blow to the Villans as they have all played roles in their efforts to push for promotion from the Championship.
Smith will be hopeful that his returning players can make an immediate difference and start 2019 in a positive fashion.
Aston Villa fans – thoughts?
