Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that a late decision will be made on Emiliano Martinez’s availability against Burnley after his injury setback.
The 33-year-old was named in the initial starting line-up against Feyenoord on Thursday night, but a late issue forced him to withdraw and Marco Bizot stepped in and impressed once again.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Villa secure vital win at Feyenoord
Given the influence, leadership and decisive impact that Martinez is capable of having, it’s a blow to lose him to an injury at any time, and there is still uncertainty over whether or not he’ll recover in time to face Burnley, with the international break to follow.
“He’s just had a scan an hour before the press conference and I don’t know exactly now if he’s going to be available or not,” Emery told the media at his pre-match press conference, as per VillaTV. “I don’t know the scan result.
“But we are planning always to have players, two, three or four positions, and confidence to play with every player when they are available and when they are not.
“The players have to play with the same idea and the same way we are building the team. And Marco Bizot did it yesterday, a fantastic job, following the gameplan, our idea and our demands on the field.
“Tomorrow we’ll know if Emi Martinez will be available.”
Bizot’s form undoubtedly softens the blow of being without Martinez, as the Dutch shot-stopper kept a third clean sheet of the season in Rotterdam in midweek, as he produced a string of fine saves to help us on our way to securing three important points to continue our strong start to our European campaign.
Further, his ability to command his box and organise the backline contributed to our crucial defensive display as we certainly came under pressure, particularly in the first half at Feyenoord, and to see him stand up to that, make the difference and show that he’s a more than capable deputy for Martinez is reassuring moving forward.
Time will tell if he keeps his place this weekend or not, but Tyrone Mings isn’t expected to return after he suffered a setback of his own last weekend, while it remains to be seen if Villa can recover any of Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana, Jadon Sancho, Andres Garcia or Ross Barkley, who were all also missing in our Europa League outing.
It’s undoubtedly testing our depth and the resilience of those asked to shoulder a heavier burden in recent weeks, but hopefully we’re able to recover, regroup and secure a fourth consecutive win across all competitions this weekend, to continue to build confidence and form after our dismal start to the campaign.
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