Libor Kozak hands Villa fitness boost

The 29-year-old has picked up a virus and will miss a game which could see Villa relegated from the Premier League.

Agbonlahor was left out of last Saturday's 4-0 defeat to Chelsea by caretaker boss Eric Black, after the club opened an investigation into his conduct during a recent holiday to Dubai.

The inquiry was triggered when a photographs of the striker appearing to smoke a shisha pipe appeared in a national newspaper but found Agbonlahor, the club's longest-serving player, should face no action.

He returned to training on Monday but has now picked up an illness which means he will again be unavailable.

"He has not trained today and I have taken him out of the squad because he is coming in to see the doctor," explained Black. "He phoned in this morning to say he was struggling with a virus."

Czech forward Kozak has however returned to give Villa more competition, after missing the past two months with a fractured ankle.

Defender Ciaran Clark, who missed the Chelsea defeat with a calf problem, has also been passed fit along with midfielders Jack Grealish (ankle) and Adama Traore (foot).

Villa will be relegated from the top flight for the first time since 1987 if they fail to match Norwich City's result at Crystal Palace.

Rudy Gestede scored the winner as Villa beat the Cherries on the opening day of the season, but they have won only twice in the league since.

Black said: "I remember Gestede's goal, on the first day of the season. It was a great start and a great victory but things have conspired and we're bottom of the league and I'm not hiding from that fact.

"I'm a great believer in football that most of the time the work and the effort and due diligence you put in, you get 70-80 per cent of it back.

"We're in a position where we're not so let's try and solve the problems and I know that the people above are doing their utmost to try to ensure the club gets back where it should be."