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Aston Villa midfielder Birkir Bjarnason will be out for six to eight weeks with the knee injury sustained in Saturday’s 2-0 win at Rotherham United.

The Iceland international was making his first start since the 2-0 defeat at Newcastle two weeks ago having been among the substitutes for the victories over Derby County and Bristol City at Villa Park.

Bjarnason, who joined Villa from Swiss side FC Basel in the January transfer window, has been in and out of the team and used in a variety of roles by Steve Bruce.

But the midfielder is now set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines which will see him miss the majority of the remainder of the campaign, if not all of it.

Iceland will be without Bjarnason for their clash with Kosovo on March 24 in what will be their first competitive international without their no.8 since 2011.