Ivan de la Pena is back for Espanyol for today's game with Villarreal.

The 34-year-old has been plagued by injuries in the last two years and has not appeared since November of last year.

The former Barcelona midfielder was hugely missed by Espanyol last season, appearing just five times as the Catalans struggled to create goals without their captain and talisman.

"Ivan de la Pena has been training well for the last two weeks and is fit to travel," Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino said.

"But in terms of how many minutes he'll play - we'll see."