Aston Villa finally get their pre-season campaign underway with a friendly against West Midlands rivals Walsall on Wednesday evening.
The home side are playing Premier League opposition for the second time in the space of a few days after losing to Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Match preview
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Until it is determined whether Jack Grealish will stay at Villa for the 2021-22 campaign, manager Dean Smith and his squad will remain in a period of uncertainty.
Nevertheless, at a time when the club's hierarchy expect a minimum of a top-10 finish, Smith must get on with the job of preparing his current crop for the new season.
Ashley Young and Emiliano Buendia are timely additions for different reasons, while Smith will naturally want to give game time to youngsters Carney Chukwuemeka and Louie Barry.
With a second-string friendly at Leamington being postponed, they are likely to be involved on Wednesday night with the likes of Grealish and Emiliano Martinez on their summer break.
As it stands, this is the first of five pre-season fixtures for Villa with games against Stoke City, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City and Sevilla all to come by August 7.
From Walsall's perspective, new head coach Matthew Taylor will view this as another important fixture ahead of the new campaign with 11 new players having arrived at the Banks's Stadium.
Taylor will be grateful for having the freedom to make widespread changes to a side which only just avoided relegation from League Two last season.
Despite falling to a 1-0 defeat against Palace, Taylor and the club's supporters will be full of optimism after an encouraging performance against higher-level opposition.
With only four more matches to come before their League Two opener versus Tranmere Rovers, Taylor will want more of the same against their neighbours.
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Team News
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Tyrone Mings, Douglas Luiz and Bertrand Traore join Martinez and Grealish in missing the visit to the Saddlers due to their international commitments.
However, Young and Buendia are expected to feature in a starting lineup featuring both experienced players and some of the club's starlets.
Taylor will assess the recovery of his Walsall squad after playing in uncomfortable temperatures against Palace at the weekend.
Liam Kinsella, Zak Mills and Kieran Phillips could all drop down to the substitutes' bench after completing the 90 minutes.
Head To Head
While Walsall and Villa have squared off in countless friendlies over the years, you have to go all the way back to 1972 for their last competitive encounter.
That goalless draw in the old Division Three was the third stalemate in succession, extending Villa's winless run over Walsall to four games.
We say: Walsall 0-2 Aston Villa
Walsall will be confident of pushing Villa hard in this fixture after impressing against Palace.
Nevertheless, despite the absences of some key men, Villa have enough strength-in-depth to make light work of their hosts.
Darren Plant
