Leandro Bacuna keen to keep his Aston Villa midfield berth

Almost all of the 25-year-old's ten appearances this term have come at right-back but he flourished after being moved into a central role by new boss Steve Bruce, as Villa finally ended their long wait for an away win at Reading in midweek.

Bacuna believes the position better suits his skills and now hopes to remain in the team when Fulham visit Villa Park tomorrow.

"I've spoken to the manager and said at the moment you can see Micah (Richards) played right-back and (Alan) Hutton too," he said. "I'll try and play in the midfield as much as I can – I just try to help the team out and I think that is more my position. I can go up and down and use my energy. That's good for me."

Villa, who have not won consecutive games since May 2015, are expected to again be without both captain Tommy Elphick and Micah Richards, with Hutton and Nathan Baker set to keep their places in defence. Visitors Fulham have won just once in nine games but are unbeaten on their travels and boss Slavisa Jokanovic is approaching the game in bullish mood.

"We can fight against all the Championship teams," he said.

"Villa are one of the top teams and that's an extra motivation for us. We have confidence and we're going to try to dominate the game."