Patrick Vieira issues Crystal Palace injury update ahead of Aston Villa

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has issued an update on the fitness of his squad ahead of their clash with Aston Villa on Sunday.

Steven Gerrard will line his Villa side up to face Palace for the second time, after they secured all three points at Selhurst Park in a 2-1 win back in November, just days after he was appointed Villa boss.

Matt Targett, who is now on loan at Newcastle United, and John McGinn were on the scoresheet in this fixture, which gave Gerrard his second win in the first week in the role after succeeding Dean Smith.

Villa will be keen to replicate this result as they look to leapfrog their opponents in the Premier League table this weekend, as Palace sit just one place above Villa in 11th with only one point separating the two teams.

Speaking on the fitness of his team, Vieira said: "Everybody trained this week and the only one [out] is Nathan Ferguson who is following his individual training on the field. Hopefully, he'll train with the group before the end of the season.

"That isn't the target [getting him back into matchday squad before end of season]. We want him training with the squad in the last week so he'll be in pre-season fully."