Tyrone Mings took a significant step on his road to recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury by starting a game for Aston Villa's U21 side on Saturday.
The 31-year-old former Villa captain had been out of action since he sustained the injury in his right knee on August 12 last year in a 5-1 loss away at Newcastle.
He therefore missed all but one of Villa's games in the 2023-24 season but he could soon be back available to manager Unai Emery.
Mings was not the only overage player to start in Villa's U21 clash with Newcastle on Saturday.