Swansea City vs Aston Villa - Bony doubtful before Villa clash

Posted Monday, December 24, 2018 by PA

Swansea manager Graham Potter will check on the fitness of Wilfried Bony after the striker lasted an hour of the 3-2 defeat at Hull.

Bony is still on the comeback trail after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury but found the net to open the scoring at the KCOM Stadium.

Potter will have to decide between Oli McBurnie and Bersant Celina if he needs an alternative to Bony after both came on as substitutes against Hull, with Celina scoring the final goal of the game.

Winger Daniel James returned from injury to make the squad at Hull but did not make it off the bench and will look to feature against Aston Villa.

Villa will definitely be without Manchester United’s on-loan defender Axel Tuanzebe who has been ruled out for several weeks with a foot injury.

Tuanzebe has been paired with James Chester in the heart of the Villa defence but sat out the 3-2 home defeat by Sky Bet Championship pacesetters Leeds on Sunday.

James Bree deputised at centre-back against Leeds, making his first appearance since early October as Villa let a 2-0 lead slip.

Manager Dean Smith will have to consider whether to recall Tommy Elphick from his loan at Hull once the January transfer window opens.