Dean Smith suggests Micah Richards has no chance of playing for Aston Villa against Swansea City

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Aston Villa are due to take on Swansea City in Dean Smith’s first match in charge.

Aston Villa has suggested to the Telegraph that Micah Richards won’t be playing for him any time soon.

Richards was completely ostracised by Steve Bruce during his time at Villa.

There were suggestions that a change of management at Villa Park could lead to Richards getting a chance.

But Smith has suggested that it will be months before the defender is even fit enough to feature.

“Micah has not played for a long time so he’s not near fitness to be in contention at all at the moment,” Smith said.

“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 now appears to have no chance of being involved in Villa’s team for Smith’s first game in charge this weekend.

The claret and blues take on Swansea City, with optimism flooding back to Villa Park following Smith’s appointment.

If Richards was to return to full fitness for Villa it could actually be a boost to Smith’s side.

At the top of his game, Richards was one of England’s best defenders, but there are question marks over whether he will ever get back to his peak level ever again.