Deadline-day signings Leander Dendoncker and Jan Bednarek will be assessed ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash against Manchester City.
The pair arrived at Bodymoor Heath on Thursday as Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa side prepare to face City at Villa Park.
Dendoncker is looking to overcome a throat complaint but Gerrard is hopeful both of his new faces can be involved.
“Leander is struggling a little bit this morning with his throat,” he said at Friday’s press conference.
“He’s got a bit of a throat issue so we’ll have to analyse that as the day goes along.
“I hope both players can be part of the squad, we’ve obviously got a training session now and we’ll make a late decision on both.”
Villa face a City side who lifted the title last season for the fourth time in five years and are unbeaten in their opening five matches this term.
They will be looking to stop an in-form Erling Haaland, who has registered back-to-back hat-tricks in his last two Premier League matches.
Yet Gerrard, who has faced Pep Guardiola both as a player and a manager, is looking forward to the challenge as he prepares to once again go head-to-head with the City boss.
Asked how you go about stopping City, Gerrard said: “That’s the challenge.
“It goes without saying that you’re playing against one of the best teams in the world. They’re littered with world-class stars and arguably the best manager out there.
“That’s the challenge for us. We’ve run this Manchester City side close on both occasions that I’ve personally competed against them with this team.
“The plan will be, again, to make it extremely hard for them and try to take them where they don’t want to go. We don’t want to go into the game, because of what’s happened so far this season, with any fear.
“I want the players to go and have belief and confidence and try to make it as difficult as we can for them.
“And when the times come, to show our quality, like we did here against Manchester City last year when we had an opportunity in the final minutes with young Carney (Chukwuemeka) to snatch something.
“We had this City team extremely worried for 76 or 77 minutes, so we know we can hurt this team.
“We’re really looking forward to the game.”
