Aston Villa have a free weekend after facing Stoke City next Sunday and then Manchester City the following Wednesday. And there is also the potential to have a breather between the trips to Liverpool and Manchester United at the end of March and beginning of April, reports the Birmingham Mail.

"We've got the midweek game (in Moscow) and then we've got Stoke and Manchester City coming up and then we've got a Saturday fixture missing - and that little break might help us immensely," said Villans chief, Martin O'Neill.

"I'm thinking of maybe taking the players away. Then we come back and we've got Manchester United somewhere around there.

"We've got big tests ahead. I'll have to try and make sure we are as fresh as possible for these games."