Chris Hughton admitted on Thursday afternoon England international John Ruddy is pushing hard for a Premier League recall against Aston Villa at Carrow Road this weekend.

Ruddy has played three development games following four months out with a serious thigh injury, but City's number one has yet to feature on first team duty since returning to full training in late-March.

The 26-year-old was not involved in the latest development fixture earlier this week against Newcastle's U21s and Hughton conceded at his pre-match Colney briefing he has a major decision to make ahead of Villa's visit.

'The development games have stood him in good stead,' said Hughton. 'We have the insight of course seeing him day in, day out on the training pitch and we also have to be conscious that he had been out for four months. Also I have to think about Bunny (Mark Bunn) who overall has done very well for us. They are the things I had to consider. They are decisions we will make in-house but he has had a period of training now and what we are conscious of is he has been out for a long time.'

Hughton confirmed Sebastien Bassong is fit to face Paul Lambert's side after being withdrawn late on in the 1-0 Premier League defeat at Stoke suffering some discomfort in the right knee injury he has been managing over recent months. Fellow centre-back Michael Turner (groin), however, has lost his fitness battle.

'We were hopeful there would be a chance for him this weekend. He has only just missed out so we will push him again next week and hopefully he will be fit for WBA,' said Hughton. 'Seb is okay. He is fine. It's not bad - it is a knee that he has had to manage. If we started speaking about which players have to manage ankle problems or knee problems that is normal. Not just at our club but everywhere at this stage of the season. All you have to do is look at the number of games Seb has played for us this season, probably more than at any time in the last three years of his career. He is fit and available and had a very good season.'