Life without Christian Benteke begins for Aston Villa on Saturday, as they make the short trip to Walsall for their fourth pre-season friendly of the summer.
The club record sale of Benteke to Liverpool was finally announced on Wednesday, and it's now up to Tim Sherwood and co to press on without their star man, and make it a successful season.
Pre-season as of yet
Villa have somewhat laboured so far in pre-season results wise, however truth be told there isn't much to be gained early on bar an increase in fitness levels.
A training camp in Portugal went down as a success according to Sherwood, but the results didn't suggest so. An opening 3-1 defeat to Fulham was followed up by a 0-0 draw with Sporting Braga, as Villa struggled to find their rhythm.
Things improved on Wednesday upon returning to England, as the Villans saw off the challenge of Swindon Town with a routine 2-0 win.
Scott Sinclair and Jerell Sellars got the goals, as the Villans returned to winning ways.
Team news
As ever in pre-season, there'll most likely be a flurry of substitutions and it's extremely difficult to predict a starting line up.
Youngster Sellars is likely to get another chance in the line up, as Sherwood deems whether he is worth a place in the squad this season or should be loaned out.
There'll be another chance for Villa fans to see Jordan Amavi in action after the left-back made his debut against Swindon, whilst centre midfielder Idrissa Gueye could make his debut for the club.
Carles Gill will be hoping to impress once more, as he searches for another chance at the club. It looked like his short stay at Villa was up earlier in the summer with Sherwood not fancying the creative midfielder, however his impressive performances in pre-season so far may have given him a second birth at Villa Park.
The opposition
Walsall are somewhat local rivals of Villa, with the League One side's home ground, Banks's Stadium located just a short 8.9 miles from Villa Park.
Last time out, the Saddlers went down 1-0 to another fairly local team in AFC Telford, putting in a poor performance at the New Bucks Head. Before that they faced Wolverhampton Wanderers in a training game, and lost 3-2.
Walsall will be hoping for an improved performances against Villa, as they prepare to embark upon their League One season.