As we await official updates, reports have emerged over the injuries suffered by Aston Villa duo Emiliano Martinez and Youri Tielemans this past weekend.
Tielemans was forced off in the first half of our 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Saturday night, as he appeared to suffer a groin injury and his initial reaction raised real concern as it looked as though he knew it was a significant issue.
READ MORE: Key Emery ethos builds mentality Villa need to deal with potential setbacks
Villa boss Unai Emery was dealt a further blow at half-time, as having received treatment during the opening 45 minutes, Martinez didn’t come back out for the second half as it was reported that he’d suffered a hamstring problem.
Naturally, at this critical stage of our season and having sustained so many significant injury blows already this past year, it was a worrying situation to see two more key individuals forced off with our Europa Conference League semi-final tie with Olympiacos fast approaching, while we still have three crunch Premier League games remaining to determine if we’ll qualify for the Champions League.
According to infobae, an international Argentine online newspaper, Martinez suffered a strain and not a tear, but he will be sidelined for at least two weeks. That said, his team reportedly insist that he’ll be back for the second leg against Olympiacos in Greece on May 9.
Should that prove to be accurate, the 31-year-old shot-stopper would only miss our trip to Brighton on Sunday, as he’s already suspended for the first leg against the Greek giants this Thursday night.
It’s certainly hoped that is a realistic target as it softens the setback slightly, with Robin Olsen now set to step in and fill that void in our next two games.
Meanwhile, as for Tielemans, HBVL report that the 26-year-old Belgian international did suffer a groin injury on Saturday, but after undergoing further scans on Sunday, it was determined that there was no serious damage.
It’s still unclear at this stage if it is still significant enough to rule him out this week, as while that allays fears over the blow to an extent, it doesn’t necessarily confirm that he’s escaped without having to miss time with just a month remaining in the campaign.
Villa will hopefully have six more games left this season, but the full focus will be on taking an advantage that we can protect to Greece to advance to the final.
A win at Brighton on Sunday, coupled with Tottenham’s results this week, could secure fourth place, but in order to do our job at least, we’ll need those coming into the Villa XI to step up and deliver as we continue to deal with key absentees.