Villa trio fit - McLeish

McLeish: Confident his three key players will play against Everton at the weekend

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish is confident that he will have the services of Darren Bent, Richard Dunne and Shay Given for their Premier League clash with Everton on Saturday.

Striker Bent missed England's Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Wales because of a groin problem but McLeish believes that he will be ready in time for their match at Goodison Park.

"Bent trained for the first time in ten days so that gives us optimism for Saturday," he enthused.

Defender Dunne and goalkeeper Given too will be fit to feature against the Toffees despite playing on the artificial pitch for the Republic of Ireland against Russia in Moscow in their goalless draw on Tuesday.

"The only complaint Shay had was a bit of stiffness in his back but the groin situation of the past couple of weeks seems to have cleared up," explained McLeish.

"Dunny took a whack on the chin and got four stitches but he has reported back for training feeling good - and so he should.

"He and Shay had a stormer of a game as did Barry Bannan for Scotland (1-0 home win against Lithuania on Tuesday). The guys have all acquitted themselves brilliantly on international duty."

Villa are currently seventh in the league table, having collected five points from three matches.