Petrov could return for Villa

Multi-million pound signing Stiliyan Petrov could return for Saturday’s must-win match with Watford at Villa Park on Saturday.

The 27-year-old will be given as long as possible to prove his fitness ahead of the match after struggling with a hamstring injury in recent weeks. However, other players on the sidelines are further away from a return to action.

Boss Martin O’Neill told the club’s official site: “He (Petrov) has not been training but he has been doing strengthening exercises. He has got a programme at this minute, and we will monitor that daily.

“I spoke to Chris Sutton on Monday and there is still no rapid improvement. Obviously, Craig Gardner will take a little bit of time. Luke Moore would have liked to have played on Tuesday night. We are monitoring him during training.

“I think the physios, having just come back and got the all-clear and going really well, would maybe just like him to do a wee bit more training for a while before he gets back into it.”

With or without Petrov, and given some of his performances since his £6.5million move from Celtic his inclusion may not make a difference, there is no doubt that Villa have to win the match against basement-side Watford to re-ignite their season.

After 21 games, Watford have only picked-up all three-points on one occasion and anything less than a win for Villa would surely be seen as disastrous.