Express & Star

Aston Villa hope to have Leon Bailey fit and firing for Wolves

Villa remain hopeful Leon Bailey will return for next weekend’s derby clash with Wolves a week today.

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The £25million summer signing has been sidelined since sustaining an injury while scoring his first goal for the club in last month’s win over Everton.

Bailey has been targeting a possible return to training next week as he looks to properly establish himself in the Premier League following his switch from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer transfer window.

The 24-year-old has experienced a frustrating, albeit exciting start to life at Villa, with injury limiting him to a total of just 85 minutes playing time across three substitute appearances.

Bailey was the only one of Villa’s five summer signings with no prior experience of the English game.

But his early performances have suggested he will require little time settling in.

Villa boss Dean Smith explained: “We thought the style that he has, the sort of player he is, it wouldn’t take long to adapt.

“Unfortunately, he’s had a couple of niggles but with his cameos so far he has shown he’ll be at home in the Premier League.”

Villa will head into the derby aiming to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat at Tottenham prior to the international break.

Smith’s men are so far unbeaten in three Premier League matches at Villa Park.