In a double injury boost for Aston Villa, both Diego Carlos and Philippe Coutinho have travelled to Dubai with the rest of the squad this week.
Carlos has been sidelined since August with a ruptured Achilles tendon, while his compatriot Coutinho suffered a hamstring injury just prior to the World Cup break.
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The Villa pair have been busy working on their rehabilitation since and were pictured in the gym at Bodymoor Heath last week, giving hope that although neither will be involved in our upcoming friendly games, they could step up their respective recoveries during the training camp.
As seen in the images below, the Brazilian duo are now confirmed to be in Dubai this week, which is a huge boost both in terms of their fitness and morale as it will certainly do them good to be alongside the rest of the group over the next week rather than being left behind at the training ground to work alone.
Further, it gives Villa boss Unai Emery a better chance of having a good look at them and charting their progress, as well as learning more about each other and adapting to his demands.
Coutinho will hope to pick things up and get involved in group sessions sooner rather than later after posting a clip of himself being back on the grass last week, and so it remains to be seen if Emery will be able to call upon the 30-year-old when we face Liverpool on Boxing Day.
Having struggled to find form so far this season, the Brazilian playmaker will no doubt hope for a fresh start under the Spaniard, while Carlos will also have to battle his way back into the Villa starting XI when he’s ready to make his comeback.
For now though, it’s great to see them both out in Dubai, and it’s only good news for Villa that the squad is getting stronger and Emery almost now has a full group to choose from.
In less positive news, there has been no sign of Morgan Sanson as of yet in the content shared by the club, with the Frenchman missing the meeting with Cardiff City last week due to injury. It’s hoped that he is either already out in Dubai but is working on his rehab away from the cameras, or is at least planning on joining the squad at a later stage.
Dubai arrivals ✅🇧🇷#avfc #UTV 🟣🔵 pic.twitter.com/8ldSHQKYuB
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) December 6, 2022