Aston Villa midfielder Gary Gardner continued his recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury by turning out for the club's development side this afternoon.

The 20-year-old has not featured for Villa since August when he picked up the problem.

However, his 45-minute appearance against Fulham's youngsters today has suggested that he could play for Villa's senior side before the end of the current campaign.

"Good to get 45 minutes today disappointed with the result but so happy to put that villa shirt back on thank you all for the support," he wrote on Twitter.

Gardner, who is the brother of Sunderland midfielder Craig, joined Villa as a trainee back in 2005.