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Just when will Aston Villa’s injury list relent?

Today we can reveal the news that Nathan Baker will be out for at least two months with a knee injury.

It’s another blow for manager Paul Lambert who will be severely short on central defenders when Southampton visit Villa Park on Monday.

While Baker could miss as many as 12 games, Swiss defender Philippe Senderos also faces a month on the sidelines and captain Ron Vlaar has been ruled out, too.

It’s been a tough time for Villa of late and these fresh setbacks will make the expected recovery even tougher.

Baker was just starting to find some form until he was stretchered off in the final few minutes of the recent 0-0 draw with West Ham, Senderos picked up his knock while on international duty and Vlaar was also injured whilst playing for Holland last week.

Jores Okore and Ciaran Clark are likely to fill in but Chris Herd is also an option for Lambert to consider.

Some good news is that Alan Hutton is fit and available to play.

View photos from Villa's battling draw at West Ham

Whether he fits straight back in after three games out remains to be seen because his replacement Matt Lowton has performed well in his absence.

Hutton missed Scotland’s defeat to England in the week as he continued his recovery from an ankle injury but Lambert confirmed he will be in his thoughts on Monday.

Christian Benteke, meanwhile, will sit out of his second game of a three-match suspension against the Saints.

His red card against Tottenham came just as he was starting to find his feet again in the Premier League following a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a ruptured Achilles.

Lambert reckons his international outing for Belgium would have kept him ticking over just nicely, though.

“It’s been good that he’s had the games. He’s still missing for us obviously but the good thing for us is that he’s getting games.

“He’s doing well in training, too. Every day he is looking better.

“The Belgium game will have helped him.”

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