Aston Villa v Newcastle preview

Published Sep. 16, 2011 3:16 p.m. ET

foxsports

Aston Villa will be without Emile Heskey and Jermaine Jenas. Former England striker Heskey looks set to be out for two to three weeks with a pulled hamstring, while on-loan Tottenham midfielder Jenas also misses out this weekend after suffering a thigh injury in training. Eric Lichaj is expected to be sidelined for three to four months after undergoing a hip operation. Fellow defender Carlos Cuellar is recovering well from a knee problem but lacks match fitness. Newcastle full-back Davide Santon could be out of action for a month after suffering a cartilage injury which will require minor surgery. The 20-year-old former Inter Milan defender will miss out on a chance to make his senior debut for the club at Villa on Saturday, and utility man Ryan Taylor is likely to continue in what has been a problem position for manager Alan Pardew since Jose Enrique's summer departure for Liverpool. Hatem Ben Arfa is back in training after his ankle injury but is unlikely to be risked at the weekend, although he could make the squad for Tuesday night's Carling Cup trip to Nottingham Forest, while Haris Vuckic (broken hand), Mehdi Abeid and Mike Williamson (broken arm) remain on the casualty list. Villa (from): Given, Guzan, Hutton, Herd, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, N'Zogbia, Petrov, Bannan, Delph, Petrov, Ireland, Albrighton, Bent, Agbonlahor, Delfouneso. Newcastle (from): Krul, Harper, Simpson, R. Taylor, Ferguson, Coloccini, S. Taylor, Tiote, Cabaye, Gutierrez, Marveaux, Obertan, Gosling, Guthrie, Smith, Ba, Shola Ameobi, Lovenkrands, Best, Sammy Ameobi.