Aston Villa trio Glenn Whelan, Alex Hutton and Axel Tuanzebe are likely to miss the clash against Bolton at the weekend, it has been confirmed.
Manager Steve Bruce revealed that the first teamers are set to miss the Championship fixture away at Bolton on Saturday.
“I doubt it (that they will be fit to face Bolton). Hopefully they’ll be back after the international break,” Bruce said, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail.
They were all absent on Tuesday night as the Midlands giants suffered a surprise 3-1 loss at home to QPR.
The result means that they are now seven points adrift of Cardiff in second as they try to chase down an automatic promotion spot.
Bruce will have to manage without the defensive pair of Hutton and Tuanzebe, who are both struggling with hamstring injuries.
Meanwhile, central midfielder Whelan has a calf problem that has seen him miss the last two games.
OPINION
Bruce’s side appeared to have all the momentum in the promotion hunt after dispatching leaders Wolves 4-1 in emphatic fashion at the weekend, but reaching the top two now seems a very hard ask just days later for them. Villa should get back to winning ways on Saturday against a Bolton team that are without a win in their last four games and languishing in 20th.. However, the distance to Wolves and Cardiff is now very difficult to overturn in the remaining nine matches. Villa may need to freshen up the starting XI against Bolton, something they should perhaps of done against QPR.