John McGinn has begun training alongside his Aston Villa team-mates again and is expected to be fully fit for a Premier League resumption.
The Scotland midfielder, one of Villa's most important players, has not played since damaging ankle ligaments in the 3-1 home defeat by Southampton on December 21.
His availability would be a huge boost to Villa boss Dean Smith, whose side are 19th in the table, albeit with a game in hand.
McGinn had been due to return to action in late March or early April, before the coronavirus pandemic caused the top flight to be suspended.
Since then, McGinn has been building his fitness and has now been cleared to join full sessions with his team-mates.
Premier League clubs yesterday/on Wednesday voted unanimously to move to full-contact training sessions as they build towards starting the campaign again.
