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Kieran King

'Like two new signings' Aston Villa handed major boost for Leeds United clash

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard has provided an update on the fitness of his squad ahead of his sides' clash with Leeds United on Wednesady night.

This is Villa's first game for 18 days after they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United and are searching for back-to-back victories for the first time since November.

Meanwhile, Leeds will be hoping to return to winning ways and could move further away from the relegation zone with all three points.

It's poised to be an important game for both teams but Gerrard has confirmed he has no fresh injuries for the game at Villa Park.

Villa were last in action when they secured a 1-0 win over Everton back on January 23 as Emiliano Buendia's first-half strike proved to be the difference at Goodison Park.

There has been some concerns about Phillipe Coutinho's fitness after he featured for Brazil over the international break, but Gerrard insists he virtually has a fully fit squad apart from Leon Bailey and Bertrand Traore.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, he said: "We’ve now got Leon Bailey back in full training, but he won’t be in the squad tomorrow.

"Bertrand Traore is on his way back, so to get those two back in the squad will be a big help, like two new signings.

"Besides that, we are fully fit and ready to go."

Bailey has been out since early December after picking up a thigh problem in the 2-1 defeat against Manchester City, missing 10 matches in all competitions.

The Jamaican winger joined the club for £30million from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer and has scored once in nine appearances for Villa so far.

Traore has been out on international duty with Burkina Faso at the Africa Cup of Nations, where he guided his country to the semi-final as they eventually lost out to winners Senegal.

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