Stevens may make first start against United

Soccer:Former Shamrock Rovers left back Enda Stevens could be in line to make his full Premier League debut for Aston Villa against Manchester United next Saturday after coming on as a substitute in the victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light at the weekend.

The 22-year-old Dubliner replaced Eric Lichaj for the final 20 minutes of the 1-0 victory to make his debut for the club he signed for in August of last year.

Lichaj had earlier been a substitute for Joe Bennett after the first-choice left back aggravated a knee problem, but picked up a fifth yellow card of the season in the game that rules him out of the game against the Red Devils at Villa Park.

It means Stevens is in line to face Alex Ferguson’s side and possibly face a daunting opponent in United winger Antonio Valencia.

Villa will today assess the fitness of striker Darren Bent, who has suffered an injury to the ankle which sidelined him for the final three months of last season.

Villa’s £18 million record signing sustained the latest setback in training on Friday and was ruled out of the win at his former club Sunderland.

Bent has been replaced in the starting line-up by Christian Benteke in recent weeks but another lengthy spell out of action would still be a blow to the midlands club.

Villa boss Paul Lambert said: “Darren hurt his ankle on Friday in training. It is the same ankle he hurt against Wigan (in February). I know it was serious then.

“Is it serious? I don’t know yet. He will get treatment on it during the week and we will see.

“He was really hobbling on Friday and we couldn’t take a chance on him with Sunderland.”

Bent suffered last season’s ankle problem against Wigan in late February and it ended his hopes of being part of England’s Euro 2012 squad.

The form of Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor, who have scored five goals between them in the last three games, has meant he has been had to be content with a substitute’s role in recent weeks.