Aston Villa boss Dean Smith says John McGinn is close to a playing return.

The midfielder has been out since December after suffering a fractured ankle against Southampton and, during that time, Villa have won just two of the nine Premier League games.

"He's getting to where we want him to be and had a CT Scan today (Friday) to make sure there's a full union of the fracture," said Smith.

"He trained with us, we've not had him training in contact sessions yet, he's been involved in possession and shape work.

"He feels really good which is the important thing. He'll be pushing me for Chelsea, that's for sure.

"Once he gets on that training ground he'll move quickly and he's certainly progressing quickly now.

"Obviously, there will be a lot of pressure put on him because of the pressure on him before his injury, but we have to make sure he's right when he actually comes back."