Bolton v Aston Villa preview

Agbonlahor: Could return

PREDICTIONS

Skysports.com prediction: Bolton 1 Aston Villa 1
Sky Bet odds: Bolton 7/4 Draw 12/5 Aston Villa 6/4
One to watch: John Carew

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Bolton will be looking to heed manager Gary Megson's advice when they welcome Aston Villa to the Reebok Stadium on Saturday.

The Trotters boss has warned his players that they must not relax and become complacent ahead of the Premier League run-in despite the club sitting a relatively safe six points above the drop zone.

After a 4-1 home win over fellow strugglers Middlesbrough at the start of the month, the North West club had looked to have secured their Premier League status but defeats in their last two games have seen Megson looking worryingly over his shoulder at the bottom three.

A couple of months ago a fixture against Villa would have been met with pessimism by even the most optimistic of Bolton supporters but, after taking three points from a possible 24, Martin O'Neill's men have suffered a dramatic loss of form.

The battle for fourth spot now seems to be over with Arsenal eight points clear of the Midlands club and Bolton will be quietly confident of securing their fifth home win in six games.

Megson will assess the fitness of Ricardo Gardner and defender Danny Shittu ahead of the clash as they look to shake off their respective knocks.

Gardner was forced off after just 12 minutes of last weekend's 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth with a hamstring injury.

Shittu meanwhile missed the trip to Fratton Park altogether after he picked up a calf problem in the 4-3 loss to Chelsea.

The former West Brom and Leicester manager is hopeful that both players will prove their fitness ahead of the clash.

Absentees

Midfield pair Mark Davies and Joey O'Brien are definitely ruled out. The duo are both sidelined with knee injuries.

Meanwhile Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor is close to returning after missing the 1-1 home draw with West Ham last time out as the club look to win their first game in eight league attempts.

The England international picked up a calf strain against Everton in the club's previous match.

If the 22-year-old is passed fit O'Neill has a striking dilemma with John Carew and Emile Heskey also vying for a starting berth.

The Villa boss could surprise everyone and start with all three upfront after admitting that was a possibility this week when asked about options for next season.

"All three, if they can stay fit for next season, will definitely pose problems in whichever order we play - including all three of them at the same time," he declared.

Possible starting XIs

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Steinsson, Samuel, Cahill, Basham, Taylor, Gardner, McCann, Davies, Elmander.

Aston Villa: Friedel, L.Young, Shorey, Cuellar, Davies, Barry, Petrov, Milner, Carew, Agbonlahor, A. Young.