Aston Villa have provided fans with a sneak peak of how Villa Park will look for their clash with Sheffield United as the Premier League makes its long-awaited return following a three-month hiatus.
Villa Park will host the first official game – a 6pm kick-off on Wednesday – since the league was suspended on March 13, and the club are keen to create an atmosphere in the absence of match-going supporters.
And with the action just hours away, the club have put the finishing touches on their stadium by dressing up the stands with colourful wraps to present a more visually-appealing picture for a game that is expected to attract more than 700 million viewers.
Club-themed wraps will greet the two sets of players as they walk out onto the pitch with the lower-section of the 42,785-seater stadium covered for the rest of the season.
Fans have also been invited to send in short videos of themselves cheering on the team as Villa look to provide their players with the boost in their fight against relegation.
Villa were involved in the final game before the shutdown – a 4-0 defeat at Leicester on March 9 – and they have been finalising preparations for the resumption with two training matches against the Foxes on Wednesday.
One session took place at King Power Stadium, with another at Villa Park. Both were 11-a-side matches involving two different sets of players.
James Maddison, Jamie Vardy and Jack Grealish were all among those given a run-out. With the teams having played each other twice already in the Premier League, there was little risk of giving away tactical clues ahead of a future encounter.
In a huge boost for Villa, midfielder John McGinn – who has not figured since damaging ankle ligaments in the home defeat by Southampton on December 21 – completed a full game and should now be fit to take on Chris Wilder’s men.
The Scotland international’s return will give relegation-threatened Villa extra optimism that they can beat the drop.