Gary McAllister has revealed that Villa’s management may consider a break with tradition over the festive period by rotating a few of their players.

Villa travel to Wigan on Saturday but then host Tottenham on Boxing Day before testing away trips to Manchester City and Chelsea.

The claret and blues have been boosted by the return of several first-team stars recently and assistant boss McAllister admitted manager Gerard Houllier will make changes if necessary.

McAllister said: “Gerard is a big believer of when a team is winning you try to stay as close to that as possible.

“But needs must and the manager and the coaching staff will use their experience if people are looking a wee bit jaded and there might need to be a change.

“What we have is players coming back, we’ve got a good squad and there’s good numbers.

“It’s a hectic period.  We’ll need everybody. It’s not just about the 11 that are going to start. We need everyone focused, not just the guys who are currently in the team.

“Everyone knows if you can get through a Christmas period with a good points tally it bodes well going into the New Year.

“There are some high-profile games, but they are great games.”

Villa will definitely have Gabby Agbonlahor and Nigel Reo-Coker available for the trip to the DW Stadium, but Luke Young faces a fitness test as he recovers from problems with his hip and groin.

Young was replaced by Eric Lichaj for the win over Albion last time out and McAllister admitted the coaching staff were impressed with the 22-year-old American who made his Premier League debut against the Baggies.

McAllister said: “Eric did very well and that’s what it’s about. When you get an opportunity you’ve got to grasp it and try and keep the jersey so to speak.

“It was a strong performance and a strong team performance against Albion, but individually from his point of view he’s put in a good 90 minutes.

“I think he’s shown on occasions that you can lose focus and a wee bit of concentration against someone like Jerome Thomas because he’s very talented,

“But apart from maybe a five-minute period where he was causing him a wee bit of trouble I thought he dealt with him very well.”