New Aston Villa boss Dean Smith is ready to give Micah Richards a fresh career chance.

Signed on a free transfer during Tim Sherwood's reign, former Manchester City defender Richards hasn't played for the Villans since October 2016.

But Smith isn't closing the door on Richards and is open to the possibility of using him later in the season.

“Micah trained with us on Monday morning. He's not played for a long time so he's not near fitness to be in contention at all at the moment.

"But we'll see how his fitness builds over the next month or two.

“He's been on a special programme, the training minutes he hasn't had so far. We'll see how his body adapts to those training minutes as we go."