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Sherwood hopes Villa's injured trio return for Leicester clash

Football - Aston Villa v Sunderland - Barclays Premier League - Villa Park - 29/8/15 Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood before the match Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Alan Walter Livepic

(Reuters) - Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood hopes injured trio Adama Traore, Jack Grealish and club captain Gabriel Agbonlahor will return from injury in time to face high-flying Leicester City after the international break.

All three missed Saturday's 2-2 draw with Sunderland, where Villa's Scott Sinclair scored twice to take his tally to five goals in four games.

Club record signing Traore was absent with a sore calf picked up against Notts County in the League Cup. Grealish, who had just recovered from a hamstring injury, twisted his ankle in training the day before the Sunderland game.

"Jack twisted his ankle. There was no one near him. He caught his toe in the turf on Friday. He went over on it. He was sick, gutted," Sherwood told the club website (www.avfc.co.uk).

"We don't know how bad it is. We're hoping it's just a sprain and the international break might give him an opportunity to be ready for the Leicester game.

"Adama is feeling a kick. He got a kick on the back of the calf and obviously rolled his ankle at the same time.

"The good news is that the ankle is okay. It's just about the soreness of the kick -- and it was too sore for him to take part," he added.

Agbonlahor was one of the several first-team players to have been disrupted by illness.

"Gabby is not well. He's had the stomach bug. I think there's six or seven at the club who have suffered. Gabby was on," the former Tottenham Hotspur manager said.

Aston Villa, who currently sit 12th in the league, make the trip to third-placed Leicester City on Sept. 13.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru)