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Tammy Abraham in race to be fit for Aston Villa

Villa are sweating on the fitness of Tammy Abraham after the striker withdrew from international duty with England under-21s.

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The Chelsea loanee, Villa’s top scorer this season with 21 goals, spent last week with Aidy Boothroyd’s squad despite struggling with a calf injury.

After sitting out Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Poland, Abraham pulled out of the squad on Saturday when it became clear he would not be ready for the game against Germany in Bournemouth.

The 21-year-old will now be assessed at Bodymoor Heath, with Villa hopeful he will be fit enough to feature in Saturday’s Championship clash with Blackburn.

Abraham was forced off early during the 3-0 win over Middlesbrough earlier this month and though the problem is not thought to be serious, he faces a race against time to be ready.

Should Abraham miss out, Villa boss Dean Smith could turn to either Jonathan Kodjia or Keinan Davis to fill the gap up front.

The latter, who has experienced injury frustration of his own this season, made an impressive cameo in the victory over Boro.

Smith said: “Keinan’s had a few niggles since I have been here, missed quite a long period and been in and out of training. It was nice to get him back.

“He is a handful in training and I’ve been really impressed with what I have seen.”

Villa have defender Axel Tuanzebe and midfielder Henri Lansbury back available after long injury absences, as they hunt a fifth league win on the spin.