Holman available for Villa

Holman's fitness gives manager Paul Lambert a boost, with Stephen Ireland still out of action.

But Villa's manager expects the key midfielder to return after the upcoming international break.

Ireland suffered a cracked bone in his wrist during last weekend's 4-1 defeat at Southampton and was substituted at half-time.

He also missed the midweek Capital One Cup win and has been ruled out of this weekend's derby at Villa Park.

But Lambert is optimistic Ireland will be available for when Villa returns to action after the international fortnight against Fulham on October 20.

He confirmed: "Stephen has got a little crack on his wrist.

"All things going well, I think he'll be fit after the international break.

"It's not as bad as we thought it would be. He's in plaster at the moment.

"The fans are desperate for him to do well. You can sense that. He is a really good lad.

"He's been doing really fine and it's just unfortunate what has happened and he was in a lot of pain."

Meanwhile, Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri has recovered from a hamstring injury and will be available to play at Fulham this weekend.

Nasri was substituted in the first half of City's UEFA Champions League clash with Real Madrid and missed last weekend's draw with Arsenal and the midweek League Cup.

Jack Rodwell is missing however, after injuring his groin in the warm-up before the Villa match. Right-back Micah Richards is back in training but is still not likely to feature.