Injury briefing: nobbled knees cripple Aston Villa revival

Two big blows for Aston Villa

Aston Villa picked up a precious three points on New Year's Day, securing a deserved 2-1 win at Burnley but manager Dean Smith might not have felt like celebrating after losing goalkeeper Tom Heaton and striker Wesley to knee injuries.

Villa's victory lifted them out of the bottom three but Heaton and Wesley have both had to undergo scans and may face lengthy spells on the sidelines.

Heaton has been one of Villa's most consistent players and his loss would appear to be the bigger blow.

However, Wesley had been showing some more positive signs recently and it was his 27th-minute goal (his sixth of the campaign) which set the Villans on their way to victory at Turf Moor.

Jonathan Kodjia looks his most likely replacement but has not started a Premier League game this season and is unproven at the top level.

New year trouble for Newcastle United

The relegation battle is getting interesting and the warning lights should be flashing for Newcastle, who dropped three points and lost four players in a 3-0 loss at home to Leicester on Wednesday.

Newcastle were ninth on Christmas Day, only two points outside the top six but have suffered three successive defeats to leave them only five points clear of the drop zone.

Everything seemed to wrong against Leicester with Jetro Willems, Jonjo Shelvey, Javi Manquillo and Fabian Schar having to withdraw with injuries and DeAndre Yedlin playing on despite suffering a broken hand.

Steve Bruce was already low on numbers with Paul Dummett, Matt Ritchie, Ki Sung-Yueng, Allan Saint-Maximin, Ciaran Clark and Jamaal Lascelles missing the entire Christmas and New Year period and may decide to blood a few youngsters when the Magpies take on Rochdale at Spotland in the FA Cup third round.

Top-flight survival has to be Newcastle's priority and owner Mike Ashley may have to get busy in January to reinforce a threadbare squad.

Steven Fletcher return lifts Sheffield Wednesday

There is always a lot of illness around at this time of year and Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher has been one of the victims, missing two weeks and three matches due to a virus.

Fletcher is the Owls' top scorer this season with 12 league goals but made his last start for the club in a 4-0 success at Nottingham Forest in mid-December.

Since then Wednesday have lost three of four matches but the pain of their 1-0 defeat at home to Hull on New Year's Day was eased by the return of Fletcher, who was fit enough to come on at half-time.

Fletcher could see more action when the Owls take on Brighton in tomorrow's FA Cup third round tie at the Amex.

But the top priority for Wednesday boss Garry Monk is to get his star striker in perfect condition for next Saturday's vital league match at Leeds.

Ian Henderson back with a bang for Rochdale

Rochdale have got used to relying heavily on striker Ian Henderson and were delighted to welcome the 34-year-old back from a two-week absence on New Year's Day.

Henderson has topped Dale's scoring charts for the last five seasons and made an immediate impact on his return to the side, bagging the opening goal of a 2-1 victory at Accrington.

It was a much-needed success for Dale, who had lost eight of their previous nine league fixtures.

They are often praised for their attractive style of football but have been found wanting in both boxes.

However, Henderson's availability gives them a cutting edge and they look stronger at the back with Blackburn loanee Tyler Magloire and veteran Paul McShane, who have recently returned from injury layoffs.

Eoin Doyle decision in the balance

On-loan Bradford striker Eoin Doyle has played a massive role in Swindon's Sky Bet League Two promotion push, scoring 23 of 45 league goals for the fourth-tier leaders, but it is possible that he has played his last game for the club.

Fourth-placed Bradford are rivalling Swindon in the promotion race and manager Gary Bowyer is exploring the possibility of recalling Doyle.

Earlier this week Bowyer said: "I think it's something everybody's looking at and everybody's talking about.

"We'll get these next two games out of the way, he can't play on Saturday for Swindon against Bradford, anyway, and we'll see what happens after that."

As well has missing Doyle, Swindon head to Bradford with five injured defenders.

Mathieu Baudry and Ellis Iandolo were injured last weekend and have joined Dion Conroy, Zeki Fryers and Tom Broadbent on the sidelines.

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