Crystal Palace injury news as Patrick Vieira confirms he'll be without key man for Aston Villa

Patrick Vieira has given a fresh injury update on his Crystal Palace team ahead of their Premier League trip to Aston Villa on Sunday.

The Eagles are bidding to finish the season strongly and still have a top-half league finish still firmly set in their sights with three matches left to play. They face an indifferent Villa side who have won two of their previous eight league matches, losing 2-1 to Liverpool at home last time out.

Steven Gerrard was in the dugout at Selhurst Park just two games into his Villa tenure back in November and saw his side come away from south London with all three points after Matt Targett and John McGinn both found the net. The Villains, who announced the permanent signing of Brazilian Philippe Coutinho during the week, are currently one point and one place below Palace in 12th, and will also have their sights set on breaking into the top half with a good result.

Vieira's side have won each of their last two games in the Premier League against Southampton and Watford though suffered an injury blow against the Hornets as centre-back Marc Guehi was forced off in the second half with an ankle issue. He is one of the players pushing to get back fit before the end of the season, though it is likely he’ll not be ready to face Aston Villa.

The Eagles will also be without James McArthur. The Scotsman started consecutive league games for the first time since November last month but missed the 1-0 home win over Watford after suffering a knock. Vieira confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the midfielder would be absent once again for this weekend’s match.

“We had a couple of injuries this week,” said the manager. “But again, we will have to wait until tomorrow to see if they will be okay.