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Chris Samba will join Aston Villa for pre-season training in July and is still hopeful of earning a contract.

The giant defender began training with the club in February and turned out for the under-23s in a win against Wolves in early March.

Manager Steve Bruce said towards the end of last season that he hoped Samba would return for pre-season and see how it progresses.

Samba is one of a number of options available to Bruce as the boss searches for a new central defender to compete with James Chester and Nathan Baker.

Villa have tabled an offer to former Chelsea and England captain John Terry and hope to beat fierce rivals Birmingham City to his signature.

But interest in Terry doesn’t appear to have deterred Samba, who took part in one of Villa’s summer fitness sessions today ahead of the players’ return to pre-season training next month.

And the former Blackburn Rovers defender will seek to convince Bruce that he can provide competition to Chester and Baker during the course of pre-season.