Aston Villa host Leicester City on Sunday evening, and Steven Gerrard could be without Leon Bailey, Danny Ings and Matt Targett.
Villa fell to their first defeat under Gerrard in midweek after a 2-1 loss at Villa Park to Manchester City, which in turn ended a bright start to life in the job after back-to-back wins.
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The focus now will be on getting back to winning ways this weekend, but after being forced to come off against City in the first half, Bailey is now set for another spell on the sidelines.
“Unfortunately, Leon Bailey has had a scan and that’s confirmed that it’s a muscle injury in that quad area. It’s going to be quite a long one,” Gerrard told the media, as per the club’s official site.
“He’ll be missing for a number of weeks. It’s difficult to put a date on that right now, but we won’t see him before Christmas.”
Meanwhile, Targett also came off on Wednesday night after taking a blow to the head, and along with Ings who didn’t make the squad for that encounter, the pair will be assessed on Saturday with a late decision expected on both in terms of their availability.
“Matty Targett will probably struggle for this game, but again we’ll make a late decision on him and Danny Ings this time tomorrow,” Gerrard added.
It’s hoped Targett is able to recover in time as he has been an ever-present for Gerrard since he arrived at Villa, while Ings would give us more depth and options off the bench.
Nevertheless, with Ashley Young able to use his versatility and slot in at left-back, coupled with the form of Ollie Watkins in the last three games, Villa will hope to have enough quality to pick up three points this weekend regardless of our absentees.