Aston Villa boss Unai Emery reiterated his hope of getting players back from injury after our defeat to Man Utd on Sunday.
Villa slipped to a 1-0 loss at Old Trafford this past weekend in a blow to our hopes of qualifying for Europe, but with four more games to play, we’re still very much in the hunt.
However, there is a sense that tiredness is starting to creep into our performances of late, as although it can be a positive to name an unchanged starting XI for four consecutive games, it also takes its toll on the players involved, particularly with a lack of impactful options off the bench.
In turn, it’s vital that we start recovering some of our injured players, and it sounds as though Emery expects some positive news as the week ahead progresses.
“I don’t know exactly but we are going to add in the next training session,” he is quoted as saying by BirminghamLive after the defeat to Utd. “They are close.
“The four players we have out are close to starting training with us; maybe they could get one or two through to be with us with Wolves.
“Of course, maybe we will need more time to use them being with good performances after their injuries.”
The Villa quartet that Emery is referring to is of course Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, Philippe Coutinho and Leon Bailey, and so it remains to be seen who of those four will be available for selection this weekend.
It’s imperative that we get them back sooner rather than later though, as ultimately it’s one thing being available for selection again, but another entirely to be match fit and at Emery’s disposal to either start or play significant minutes.
Bailey has missed our last four games, Kamara and Cash have sat out the last six and seven outings respectively, while Coutinho has been absent for 11.
In turn, they’ll need minutes to get back to their top condition and best form, and we’re running out of time for them to have the level of impact that we need at this stage of the campaign.
For now, it’s hoped that they can make the bench at Molineux on Saturday, as that in itself will be a boost for Emery to have more senior options available to have an influence on the game if needed, and to freshen things up with those who have more experience and the attributes to be decisive.