Christian Benteke ready to go for Aston Villa

Boss Paul Lambert said that barring any last-minute hitches, the Belgium international will be back on first-team duty, five days after a 60-minute appearance for the Under-21s against Bolton.

Benteke has 29 goals in 60 top-flight appearances for Villa, who have missed his firepower in a six-month absence that saw him miss out on his national team's trip to Brazil for the World Cup.

Lambert said: "First and foremost, his leg is better – his Achilles is okay. He has no ill effects on it whatsoever. He came through the U21s pretty good and trained for the rest of the week."

A further check was due to be made on Benteke's fitness today.

Skipper Ron Vlaar is again likely to miss out, having already missed the glamour clashes with Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea due to a calf injury picked up against Hull.

Meanwhile, forward Libor Kozak has had a setback in his battle to recover full fitness following a leg break and had to have an operation on Wednesday.

The former Lazio man was injured in a training ground collision with team-mate Ciaran Clark in January.

Villa sprung a shock when they won the corresponding fixture 3-2 last season with Andreas Weimann scoring the decisive goal, and the Austria forward is hoping for a repeat showing.

"That win last season at Villa Park was a fantastic moment in the season," Weimann said. "We were clinical on the day, we took our chances and we were rewarded with a great win.

"It was a really good afternoon and it would be great to experience that feeling again."

Villa made their best start to a Premier League season in 16 years before back-to-back 3-0 defeats against Arsenal and Chelsea in their previous two outings.

They will be keen to avoid a similar reverse against another Premier League title candidate.