Aston Villa pair Luke Young and Wilfred Bouma stepped up their return to full fitness in the reserves 1-1 draw with local rivals Wolves. The duo both managed to last the full 90 minutes.

"It is always nice when you turn up for a reserve game and they've got a few experienced players out there," Young said.

"I had a tricky young winger up against me, so that was quite a good workout for me.

"Sometimes reserve-team games can be a little slow in tempo but I don't think Kev (reserve team coach Kevin MacDonald) allows that. My fitness is good and I've been training with Kev quite a lot."

Dutch international Bouma broke his leg early last season, but after 14 months on the sidelines he is pleased to back playing.

"I feel everything is coming back which is a wonderful feeling," he told the Birmingham Mail.

"I have to be patient. I have already been training for a couple of weeks and the fitness is coming back.

"Another couple of games and I think hopefully I can give the gaffer a bit more of a problem but we have a big squad now."