Leeds United host Aston Villa on Sunday looking regain some momentum heading into end-of-season play-offs.
The Whites suffered back-to-back defeats over Easter weekend to Wigan Athletic and Brentford all but ending their hopes of automatic promotion.
That handed the initiative to Sheffield United who, by contrast, claimed six points. That means a win over Ipswich Town on Saturday will almost guarantee the Blades of promotion.
Chris Wilder’s side hold a three-point buffer and a superior goal difference on their Yorkshire rivals, meaning it will be a spin of play-off wheel for the Leeds.
Villa head into this clash having already secured their place in the play-offs. A ten-match winning run has catapulted Dean Smith’s men up to fifth in the table. With that in mind, the former Brentford boss could be tempted to tinker and rest some of his squad’s key personnel.
Ahead of the clash, here are all of Villa’s key injuries and suspensions:
Injuries
The headline news for Smith’s men is that 25-goal striker Tammy Abraham will miss the game against Leeds. The Chelsea loanee was substituted midway through the second-half on Good Friday and missed Monday’s win over Millwall. Jonathan Kodjia is expected to start down the middle in his absence.
Villa’s defensive casualties threatened to derail their season prior to their ten-game winning run. Those problems have eased slightly but they will still be without two key defenders.
Kourtney Hause will miss the trip to Elland Road after hobbling off against Sheffield Wednesday on April 6. The former Wolves man hasn’t been seen since and but should return for Villa’s end-of-season clash with Norwich City following match after a hip complaint.
James Chester is back in training after on-and-off knee problems for almost five months. The game in Yorkshire comes too soon for the skipper but Smith is hopeful of having him back for the play-offs.
Lovre Kallinic will also be back in action on Monday but it will Jed Steer between the sticks at Elland Road once again. The Croatian January acquisition could return in the final game of the season against Norwich after being ruled out with a knee injury for the last six weeks.
Suspensions
Smith will be wary of fielding John McGinn at Elland Road. The Scot has established himself as an integral cog in the midfield engine room but is walking a disciplinary tightrope ahead of the play-offs.
McGinn has collected 13 yellow cards this campaign, meaning two more will result in a three-game ban which would effectively end his season and rule him out of the play-offs.
