Aston Villa midfielder Amadou Onana has revealed that he hopes to return from his injury setback in the next couple of weeks.
The 23-year-old has made 22 appearances across all competitions so far this season, and in addition to his defensive duties, he has chipped in with four goals to add a threat in the final third from set-pieces too.
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While he has been an important presence in our deeper midfield pivot when available, it has been a frustrating debut campaign with the club at times too given he has missed a number of games due to injury.
The Belgian international has missed our last three outings with a hamstring issue, and coupled with the absences of Boubacar Kamara and Ross Barkley, we’ve been left light in midfield and have put additional strain on the likes of Youri Tielemans and John McGinn to give us a solid foundation and maintain control in that area of the pitch.
With FA Cup and Champions League games coming up too in addition to our Premier League fixtures, Unai Emery will be desperate to get as many injured players back as soon as possible, and although he isn’t seemingly set to make an imminent return, Onana has provided a positive update on his recovery.
“I’m getting there,” he is quoted as saying to TNT Sports, by BirminghamLive. “A couple more weeks I think. I have been putting in the work and hopefully will be back soon.
“I am definitely having a bit of FOMO and it has been really fun watching them. I think it has been really fun competing for places in this team and it is a joy to watch.
“The ambition is to get to the top and you need these kinds of players. You need to actually be in the locker room to understand.
“When you know what Unai Emery has won, he is an ambitious man and he gives you the confidence to go out there and play to the best of your abilities. He is focused on the details and it is working for us.”
Should Onana’s assessment prove to be accurate, that is likely to rule him out of our upcoming encounters with Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Cardiff City and Brentford, and so that’s a disappointing development as those four games come in the space of 14 days.
Emery suggested in midweek that Barkley could be back this weekend to give us additional cover and depth on the bench, and that will be an important boost to give us another dynamic in midfield with his technical ability and composure either allowing him to replace Tielemans, or feature alongside him if we’re looking for a breakthrough.
However, with Onana and Kamara both still sidelined, that won’t help us address our defensive issues this season as we’re continuing to concede too many soft goals, and with the defensive strengths and attributes that the duo possess between them, it certainly doesn’t help being without their services.
Kamara is expected to be sidelined for a similar period as Onana, and so perhaps the midfield pair will be targeting our trip to Brighton on April 1 as a possible comeback target, but a return prior to that would certainly be a welcome sight to bolster our matchday squad.