McLeish has Gabriel Agbonlahor and Nathan Delfouneso among his fit strikers
Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish is facing a striker shortage after Emile Heskey joined Darren Bent on the sidelines.
Heskey suffered a recurrence of an Achilles injury in the goalless draw at Stoke, while Bent is set for more tests on a troublesome thigh.
“Emile Heskey couldn’t go on with his ongoing Achilles problem. He might be out for a while now,” said McLeish.
- Gabriel Agbonlahor: 5 goals
- Darren Bent: 5
- Stiliyan Petrov: 3
- Marc Albrighton:2
Of Bent, he added: “We thought he was ready for this one. He will have a scan in the morning.”
Asked when Bent may return, McLeish said: “I don’t know. If there is new fluid we will know it is a fresh injury. If not he will be close [to facing Chelsea on 31 December].”
Youngster Nathan Delfouneso replaced 33-year-old former England international Heskey at half-time at the Britannia Stadium.
Bent has not played since the 2-1 win over Bolton on 10 December and had to apologise after a photo was posted on Twitter claiming to show the striker out shopping while his team-mates were losing 2-0 to Liverpool.