Aston Villa's Mile Jedinak injured on international duty

The 32-year-old was forced to miss Australia's World Cup qualifier with the United Arab Emirates last night, having not trained since sustaining an injury during the Socceroos 2-0 win over Iraq last week. National team bosses have remained vague on the exact details of the injury, describing it only as a "knock" – though they had been hopeful he would be fit to feature in Abu Dhabi.

Jedinak will now be assessed when he and the rest of Villa's international contingent return to Bodymoor Heath later this week. Di Matteo is already keeping his fingers crossed over Jack Grealish ahead of Sunday's home game with Nottingham Forest. The midfielder returned early from England under-21 duty after suffering a knee injury, while uncertainty remains over the participation of Rudy Gestede, Aaron Tshibola and Aly Cissokho.

Former Blues loanee Nicklas Bendtner could meanwhile feature for Forest at Villa Park. The 28-year-old, without a club since being released by Wolfsburg, was last night in advanced talks over a deal at the City Ground.