Team news for Brighton battle

Ross Barkley will miss Aston Villa’s trip to Brighton & Hove Albion having been ruled out for over two months.

The midfielder stepped off the bench in the second half of Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, before being forced off with a knee injury in the latter stages at Villa Park.

And manager Unai Emery has confirmed Barkley will be sidelined for the long-term.

Centre-back Tyrone Mings is the only other absentee for Wednesday’s Premier League trip to the Amex Stadium.

Providing a fitness update at Tuesday afternoon’s pre-match media conference, Emery said: “Tyrone Mings is out for tomorrow, I think four weeks more to be available.

“Ruled out as well is Ross Barkley, his injury is more than we expected.

“I don’t know exactly, but maybe 8-10-12 weeks. Hopefully a little bit less.

“It’s a pity because we were now getting the performances with him and he was helping us a lot, he was progressively so close to be in the starting XI.”