Aston Villa left-back Matt Targett has revealed how it will take “a good five or six weeks” to get back up to full fitness. The defender, a £14million signing last summer, returned back to Bodymoor Heath for the first time this afternoon after 10 weeks in lockdown. Villa were under strict instructions from the Premier League to restrict training to 75 minutes with players training in groups of no more than five.

Matt Targett told: “It was good to be back out there with some of the boys. It felt weird to be training in small groups. I was with Tyrone Mings, Douglas Luiz and Pepe Reina today. You do just individual position stuff. There’s not a lot you can do. You’ve got to keep ticking over and to try to get yourself back into some sort of shape. It’s very different. We’ve been sent our individual programmes. It just felt so weird having a ball at your feet. You do different sorts of runs (in training) which is completely different to running around a park. It’s a lot more intense. You’re going to need a good five or six weeks to get into any sort of shape. Today I felt so much heavier running around!”