Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa is reportedly hopeful of returning from his hamstring injury in the next fortnight after suffering the setback this past weekend.
The 26-year-old was forced off after just 11 minutes in our goalless draw with Manchester United on Sunday, and naturally given the nature of the issue, there was concern that he would be facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
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Having subsequently withdrawn from international duty with England, Konsa now has the break to receive treatment and recover, but there was still an anxious wait to determine if he would be ruled out of our key upcoming games across all competitions.
According to The Telegraph, there has been a positive development, as they report that Konsa is hopeful he will be able to return in one or two weeks, thus suggesting that the severity of the injury isn’t as bad as initially feared.
Villa face Fulham in the Premier League on October 19, which Konsa will seemingly still be a major doubt to feature in, but with our Champions League clash against Bologna to follow three days later before we host Bournemouth on October 26, it’s hoped that our influential centre-half will have recovered by then and is back in contention.
Konsa has once again been a fundamental piece in Unai Emery’s defence this season, showing his versatility as well as his class by playing at right-back when required too.
His absence will likely see Diego Carlos fill that void, and after a rocky start on his return to the Villa XI, the Brazilian defender has certainly improved in our last outings and will hopefully be able to offer a solid presence in the Villa backline until Konsa returns.
We’re also expected to receive a major boost from Tyrone Mings as far as our defence goes, as the Villa ace is also expected to return from a lengthy injury layoff after the international break.
Nevertheless, it’s imperative that Konsa in particular is able to come back as soon as possible such is his importance to our team in both phases of the game, and while we’ll naturally have to wait for an official update either from Konsa himself or from Emery in the build-up to the Fulham encounter, it’s hoped that this latest positive update means he won’t be forced to sit out for too long.
