Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is excited about having fit-again defender Wilfred Bouma available.

Bouma is close to earning a first-team recall after dislocating his ankle in an Intertoto Cup clash with Odense in July.

He made his comeback in the recent reserve game with Chelsea although he did not play in last night's second string clash with West Ham.

O'Neill said: "Wilfred is chomping at the bit. He is ready to go. That reserve game (against Chelsea) has helped him but he still has a bit of work to do physically.

"We worked him in one versus one, two versus two and three versus three situations in the recent training camp in Dubai and he is raring to go again.

"Wilfred has been out all season after having a fantastic 2007-08 campaign. It's now up to him to recapture that.

"It won't happen overnight because he still has some work to do. But again, when he does return, it will genuinely feel like a new signing."