Aston Villa welcome West Ham to Villa Park as they continue to edge further away from the relegation zone.

Since the appointment of Tim Sherwood, Villa have had a bit of a resurgence, with an Fa Cup final in the schedule against Arsenal and finding some form in the league too.

Sherwood's side saw off Everton last week with a 3-2 win. Christian Benteke is in fine form which has pumped the life back in to the side who were low on confidence. However, return to form for Benteke and the fresh start under Sherwood, Villa are a side full on confidence and will be looking to take all three points against West Ham.

The visitors also come in to the game on the back of a win. They were 1-0 winners at home to Burnley last week thanks to  a Mark Noble goal.

Sam Allardyce will be expecting his side to step it up though, as they face a cofident Villa side and an impressive Benteke who has scored 10 goals in his last eight games.

The Hammers also received some good news this week, after they found out they may receive a Europa League spot as a result of the Fair Play award. This will give them a boost going in to the game. 

In team news, Sherwood will be able to turn to Gabriel Agbonlahor after he returned to training this week following a spell out with a hamstring injury.

The forward had been building a strike partnership with Benteke prior to picking up the injury, and Sherwood will surely want to give him a chance to get back on the pitch and fully match fit before the FA Cup final later this month.

For the visitors, Alex Song has been back in training after a spell on the sidelines, but missed out in last week's win over Burnley. There have been no new injuries reported following last week's outing, but Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho are both still sidelined.

Aston Villa have not beaten West Ham, or scored a goal, in the last three meetings, a stat they will be determined to change and it is five months since West Ham last won consecutive league matches.

Possible line-ups:

Aston Villa: Given, Bacuna, Okore, Vlaar, Richardson, Cleverley, Westwood, Delph, Grealish, Agbonlahor, Benteke

West Ham: Adrian, Jenkinson, Collins, Burke, Cresswell, Noble, Song, Kouyate, Downing, Nolan, Valencia