Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has provided an injury update on Emiliano Martinez after he missed our win over Burnley on Sunday.
The 30-year-old was replaced at half-time in our win over Hibernian in the first leg of our Europa Conference League play-off round on Wednesday, and it was subsequently revealed that he had picked up a small calf injury.
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Martinez then faced a late fitness test to determine his availability for Sunday’s trip to Turf Moor, but he was absent from the matchday squad as Villa opted against taking any risks on aggravating his setback.
While we take on Hibernian in the second leg of our tie on Thursday night, Unai Emery’s men then travel to Liverpool in the Premier League next Sunday, and so naturally it’s hoped that the Argentine international will be back for the encounter at Anfield.
Although he didn’t explicitly say that he expects Martinez back next weekend, it sounds relatively positive from Emery in that he has suggested it will be a few more days before our first-choice goalkeeper is back training and available again.
“Emi Martinez, a few days he is going to be ready again,” he is quoted as saying by BirminghamLive’s John Townley. “I don’t know exactly for Thursday, I don’t know exactly for Sunday.
“It’s very important to give other players chances and opportunities today like with Robin Olsen.”
For the most part, Olsen was solid on Sunday as he was calm and composed with his distribution, while intervening when needed to produce a couple of decent saves to keep Burnley at bay.
He’ll likely be disappointed he didn’t do better to prevent their goal though having got a hand to the effort, and so he’ll be looking to continue to improve in midweek when he features again.
Given Martinez’s influence and experience though, it’s always a blow losing him, and so it’s hoped that he’s able to recover for next weekend and get back to marshalling the Villa defence for a difficult assignment on the road. Olsen though is the obvious choice to start on Thursday given our commanding lead, while it also gives Martinez additional time to recover.