Friday evening sees Aston Villa take on Bolton Wanderers under the lights at Villa Park.

Both teams find themselves in the bottom half of the table, closer to the drop zone than they are to the top six.

It’s a massive clash for both sides, none more so that Wanderers who started the season so well before their form fell off a cliff as they plummeted down the league.

Dean Smith will be hoping to secure his second win as manager of Villa having lost his first two away matches in a row.

Back to Villa Park for tomorrow’s fixture to take on Bolton, the hosts need to understand they are in for a tough evening when Phil Parkinson’s side turn up.

One player that Villa needs to be wary of is Bolton striker Josh Magennis...

The 28-year-old Northern Ireland international started the campaign off in fine fashion, but his form has since slumped.

With Aston Villa’s patched up back-line, tomorrow evening could be the perfect time for him to start finding the back of the net once more.

Magennis has four goals this season, two coming from inside the six-yard box, so Villa will need to keep a tight line and now allow the forward to foray into a poachers position.

He has a goal from outside the area, too and one inside to give him his total this term.

From that Villa will need to be on high alert as in and around the penalty area where he comes alive.

Magennis averages 1.7 shots per game and has had 25 in total this term - with 15 of those coming inside the area with ten outside and five inside the six-yard box.

From this, again, we can tell his presence in the box is strong, and against a weak Villa defence at present, Smith’s men could struggle to cope with his style of play.

Having scored four goals, he has netted half of his eight strikes on target in all 15 Championship matches he has featured in this term, showing that when he is in the right positions, he can be clinical.

It is not just in the shooting column where Magennis is dangerous; the 28-year-old has made a total of 10 key passes, all being successful and all ten from open play, so his presence and efforts to get his side up the pitch and in good positions poses another threat for Villa.

Standing at over six-foot tall, the forward has impressive areal stats that will also worry the Villa backline.

He wins of averages 10.7 aerial duels per game and has won a total of 161 of his 304 attempted this term.

That shows you Bolton can be direct and look to use Magennis as a target man, but as mentioned before, he can play with his feet, too, and help his side get forward, as well as creating havoc in the penalty area when given a chance.

There are an array of threats on offer to Villa, who will need to be at their best to douse any positive play Magennis tries to create.

Having been caught offside 15 times this term, the striker is eager to run off the last man when the ball is played to him on the ground as opposed to taking advantage of his aerial presence.

Combine all this, and Aston Villa will have a difficult evening on their hands trying to contain a striker who knows he is out of form and will look to use the host’s failings in their rearguard this season to his advantage to get back on the goal trail.