Steve Bruce confirms Jonathan Kodjia will be kept on Aston Villa’s substitutes’ bench

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Aston Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia is just returning from injury, but Steve Bruce wants to be cautious.

Steve Bruce has confirmed to the Birmingham Mail that Jonathan Kodjia is set for a spell on the substitutes’ bench, before he is properly re-introduced into Aston Villa’s starting line-up.

Kodjia has missed the bulk of the campaign with injury, but is finally available for selection again.

The Ivory Coast international is arguably Villa’s biggest goal threat, and the temptation for Steve Bruce to throw the forward straight back into his starting line-up must be there.

However, the experienced boss insists that Kodjia will be kept as an impact substitute for the time being.

“We’re playing catch-up with him,” Bruce said.

“So it’s a case of, can he give us a spark off the bench? It was a lot to ask at the weekend.

“You can see that he’s short at the moment and why wouldn’t he be?

“He’s had a re-operation after the original one in the summer (on his ankle) so we’ll go easy with him that’s for sure.

“Kodj wants to play, that’s just him, but he’s going to need some time.”

A fully fit and firing Kodjia would surely make a huge difference to Villa’s fortunes, but he could be kept in reserve for the play offs now.

Villa’s push for automatic promotion has stuttered over recent weeks, and they now appear to have very little chance of breaking into the top two.

Bruce’s side are next in action this evening, when they take on Reading.