Aston Villa intend to head to Dubai during the international break for warm-weather training.
The club regard it as an opportunity for Unai Emery’s squad to recover following a frenetic fixture schedule, with Villa’s FA Cup tie with Cardiff City on Friday their fifth in 13 days.
The international break will take place from March 17 to March 25, with Villa not having a match for a fortnight, enabling time for the camp in Dubai.
The trip, if confirmed, will allow players to rest, reset and prepare for the end of the season, where they seek to qualify for the Champions League.
Villa sit tenth in the Premier League, four points off a top-four spot and have several players — some of whom were in the squad against Crystal Palace on Tuesday evening — carrying injuries.
The team which started the 4-1 defeat at Selhurst Park comprised the 12th different backline Emery had played this season, contributing to a porous defensive record and a lack of clean sheets.
Pau Torres, Boubacar Kamara, Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana are sidelined while Emiliano Martinez was substituted at half-time and senior right-back Matty Cash was not included in the squad.
Emery has been a key influence in wanting a warm weather camp, having been critical of the recent fixture schedule.
“Our level of energy can be affected by injuries and the lack of rest compared to Chelsea,” he said in his programme notes before the match against Enzo Maresca’s side on Saturday. “We already spoke for so long about the illogical and lack of common sense Premier League schedule we are having this February.”
GO DEEPER
Villa’s disappearing clean sheets and a half-time comedy that summed up their league campaign
(Top photo: Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)
