Paul Lambert put his Villa players through their paces as they stepped up preparations for Monday night's clash against Manchester City.

Club photographer Neville Williams was given exclusive access to the training session at Bodymoor Heath.

The squad were given an intense workout as they geared up for the encounter with the defending Barclays Premier League champions.

Chris Herd and Shay Given took part in the session having shaken off foot and groin injuries respectively, while manager Paul Lambert will assess the fitness of skipper Ron Vlaar ahead of the match.

But Darren Bent is still struggling with a bruised foot, which kept him out of last weekend's defeat to Arsenal.

It was serious business as they geared up for the game but, as you can tell from the main image, there were light moments - with Christian Benteke chief joker.

Check out the image gallery of Villa's players in training.