New manager Dean Smith has suggested that the door is open for Micah Richards to make a playing return for Aston Villa.
Richards has spent the last two years on the sidelines with a knee injury, and there have previously been reports that Villa may look for a mutual termination of his contract ahead of its expiry in 2019.
Smith has ruled out the possibility of Richards making a playing return in the near future, but has indicated that the former England international could still put himself in contention to represent the Championship outfit later in the campaign.
The 47-year-old is quoted by The Mirror as saying: "Micah trained with us on Monday morning. He's not played for a long time so he's not near fitness to be in contention at all at the moment, but we'll see how his fitness builds over the next month or two.
"He's been on a special programme, the training minutes he hasn't had so far. We'll see how his body adapts to those training minutes as we go."
Richards has made just 31 outings for Villa in all competitions since moving to the club in June 2015.
Darren Plant
