The 25-year-old has struggled to make an impact at Villa, following his January 2005 transfer from Manchester United.
Cotterill said: “He has not played a lot of football but obviously on the back of Micah Hyde leaving we had to move to do something.
“Eric has good pedigree and we are hoping that once we get him fit he will be a good addition to the squad for the rest of the season.
“It shows something about the boy’s character that he is prepared to drop down from the Premiership to play for Burnley.”
