Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is optimistic that Emiliano Martinez will be available to face Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.
Villa got back to winning ways in midweek after a 1-0 victory over Bologna in our Europa League opener, but Martinez wasn’t included in the matchday squad due to injury.
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While Marco Bizot put in an excellent shift in his place and reaffirmed his ability to step in and fill that void efficiently when called upon, Emery will still no doubt prefer to have his first-choice shot-stopper available at all times.
Fortunately, it doesn’t sound as though the Argentine international has picked up a serious issue, as the Villa boss provided an update on his status after our win over Bologna, and it sounds as though he will be contention to face Fulham this weekend.
“He has a small injury,” Emery said, as per BirminghamLive. “He couldn’t train yesterday and he was not available today. Hopefully, it’s a minor issue – it was just a kick. Hopefully tomorrow or Saturday he can start training with us and be available for Sunday.
“But Marco Bizot played a fantastic game today. It’s very important to use different players in different positions and for them to gain confidence, which Marco did today.”
Naturally, there is some concern for now given we’ve heard Emery describe previous injury setbacks as not being serious but ultimately players have missed playing time as a result, and so we’ll have to wait and see if Martinez is deemed recovered and fit enough to feature at Villa Park on Sunday.
However, as noted above, the fact that we can rely on a safe pair of gloves with Bizot is a major boost this season, as the Dutchman made key saves to preserve our clean sheet on Thursday night and played a fundamental part in our win.
He’ll no doubt be used throughout the campaign as and when Emery is prepared to rotate, and so if Martinez isn’t quite ready to face Fulham, there will surely be no hesitation in sticking with Bizot as Villa look to build confidence, form and quality now through putting together an improved run of form after a difficult start to the season.
Our win over Bologna wasn’t entirely convincing as there were still concerning signs in our play and individual displays, but getting a win on the board as well as a clean sheet will feel good for the team, and hopefully it can be something to build on now as we try to find our way again.
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