Micah Richards has had a nightmare time at Aston Villa and has recently surpassed two years since his last Championship appearance.

With a new manager at the helm and the defender back in training, this could be the perfect time for the 30-year-old to get back fit and revive his beleaguered Villa career.

He will be hoping this is the chance he needed to rebuild his flatlined career at Villa Park.

Richards trained on Monday with the first team in what was the new head coach’s first training session at the club.

The former Manchester City and England defender has reportedly been on a special training regime to build up his fitness. 

Under news boss Smith, every Villa player will have a clean slate as he runs the rule over his new set of players in the hope they impress him enough to earn a place in the team.

And Richards will not be exempt from that.

Despite being given a boost at the prospect of a Villa revival, the defender’s contract with the club runs out in the summer, so time is running out to stage a miraculous recovery of what has been a sharp decline in the career of the 30-year-old.

With that said, we asked our team of FLW writers if they felt Richards realistically have a Villa future under new manager Smith.

Gary Hutchinson

Possibly.

There's always life after a manager and much depends on how fit he is.

After all, he might be able to play centre-half.

I liked Richards once, it would be a huge story if he did emerge from the shadows.

Jay Taylor

It’s a long shot, but if he is being included in the first-team with Dean Smith, then he has every chance of featuring.

With his contract ending in the summer, Micah Richards has eight months to get fit and firing ahead of the summer where he could potentially stay or move on to extend an injury that has been hijacked by multiple injuries.

Never say never, and it remains to be seen if he has a part to play under Smith, but there is every chance he can revive his faltering Aston Villa career.

Jacob Potter

His future at the club was finished a long long time ago.

Richards wouldn't get into the matchday squad, let alone the starting XI at Villa and they should concentrate on developing younger players at the club, instead of even considering a return for their former captain.