As news filtered through that Emiliano Martinez wouldn’t return for the second half against Chelsea on Saturday night, concern would have grown amongst Aston Villa fans.
Already robbed of seeing Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendia feature this season due to injury, the likes of Boubacar Kamara and Jacob Ramsey have joined them as long-term absentees in what has been a testing year.
READ MORE: Key Emery ethos builds mentality Villa need to deal with potential setbacks
Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Alex Moreno, Diego Carlos, Ezri Konsa, Lucas Digne and Nicolo Zaniolo have all missed time due to injury this season too, and yet here we are, sitting in fourth place in the Premier League table and preparing for a Europa Conference League semi-final tie.
That’s testament to both Emery and his players to show character, resilience and quality to deal with those setbacks and remain competitive across both fronts, but this past weekend seemed like it could be one blow too many.
While Martinez was replaced at the break due to a hamstring problem, Youri Tielemans had already limped off with a groin issue as our heavy workload this season, which has seen us play over 50 games already, seemed to be taking its toll on the players.
As Olympiacos prepare to visit us on Thursday night before we head to Brighton in the league with the potential opportunity to secure fourth spot, it’s yet another huge week in our season as we look to edge closer to two massive objectives.
Losing more players to injury is the last thing that Emery needed – not that we would know given he continues to be a class act and refuses to use it as an excuse – but the news seemingly isn’t as bad as first feared.
Any muscle injury is a real concern, and so to see Martinez receive treatment on his thigh before being forced to withdraw was worrying. Further, Tielemans’ reaction to his injury as he slammed the ground multiple times, seemingly knowing that he had sustained a significant blow, raised fear that we’d be without two more key players this week.
That is likely to still be the case, but fears of it being worse were allayed on Monday. According to Argentine journalist Gaston Edul, Martinez will go through personalised sessions in training with the aim of featuring at Brighton. If that comes too soon, the expectation is that he will travel to Greece for the second leg against Olympiacos, having already been ruled out for the first meeting due to suspension.
As for Tielemans, the Athletic report that the 26-year-old Belgian international is expected to miss just two games, as his groin strain requires rest, and isn’t as bad as initially feared.
If those timelines hold up, both players should be back for games against Olympiacos, Liverpool and Crystal Palace, and so it’s hoped that we can get the results we need in the meantime, as we await the return of Moreno and Zaniolo too in an important boost for our numbers.
The combination of a no-excuse culture, winning mentality and resilience in this ambitious group led by Emery has got us through a difficult year with injuries. The players may well be feeling it at this stage of the campaign, but hopefully we’ll see one big final push to persevere and deliver once again.