Kortney Hause set to hand Aston Villa a fitness boost

The defender has missed Villa’s last two matches with a rib injury, but boss Dean Smith is hopeful he will be ready to return to the squad, after a scan revealed no significant damage.

Villa have been without Bjorn Engels since the Premier League resumed due to an Achilles problem, while left-back Neil Taylor is set to miss his second straight match with a hamstring injury.

Smith’s team head into the match desperate for a win to boost their survival hopes. Villa could be relegated tomorrow night should they fail to at least match Watford’s result against Manchester City. The Hornets host City earlier in the evening.

Smith has already admitted his team may now need to win both remaining matches in order to stay up. Villa have won just one in eight since the season restarted and were denied victory late on at Everton last Thursday.

“We have got to go all out now to beat Arsenal and then West Ham on the final day,” said Smith.

“There is only a week left and we know what is at stake. I think the supporters can be proud of how the players are performing at the moment.”

“I think we have been playing better and better over the last few weeks. I think our performances have certainly merited more wins than we have. We could have got at least three or four.

“Unfortunately in the final third our quality has not been there. That is something we need to address over the last two games.”