Dean Smith to ring the changes for Aston Villa

The second-round tie is just Villa’s third competitive trip to Gresty Road and Smith is expected to use it as an opportunity to give minutes to players yet to feature in the Premier League.

Summer signings Ezri Konsa, Matt Targett and Marvelous Nakamba are pushing to make their debuts for the club, while Henri Lansbury could make his first appearance of the campaign.

Smith will also assess the fitness of Jonathan Kodjia before deciding whether the striker is ready to feature, after missing the last fortnight with a sprained ankle.

Villa brought in 12 new players after winning promotion to the Premier League but Smith has resisted making large-scale changes to his starting XI so far.

“I understand the fans want to see new players as soon as possible but, as I say, you’ve got to earn the shirt,” explained the boss.

“The players know they need to be good to keep hold of their shirt because of the quality of the squad we’ve got.”

Nakamba is the only summer arrival yet to feature in a matchday squad, with the midfielder having spent time working on his fitness following a reduced pre-season after his £11million switch from Club Brugge.

Smith last week confirmed the 25-year-old was ‘very close’ to being ready.

“Marvelous has been catching up a bit,” he said. “He got injured in the Africa Cup of Nations playing for Zimbabwe and joined us a bit later.

“He has been catching up with his fitness and is getting very close now.”