Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that captain John McGinn suffered a hamstring injury against Leicester City this weekend.
The 30-year-old was forced off after just 20 minutes in our 2-1 win on Saturday afternoon, and it was immediately evident that he was signalling to the medical staff that it was a hamstring issue.
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Unfortunately, those initial concerns were warranted, as Emery has suggested that the Villa skipper could now be sidelined for between two and five weeks having confirmed the nature of the setback, as per the Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell.
It’s not the first injury blow that McGinn has suffered this season as he missed a few games earlier in the campaign, but he has continued to play a pivotal role in the side having made 24 appearances across all competitions, scoring two goals and providing four assists in those outings.
Coupled with the overall influence he has and the ability to set the tone and standard for us with his tireless and tenacious performances, he’ll be another big miss for us in the coming weeks with Pau Torres also sidelined having suffered a broken metatarsal earlier this week, which will rule him out for two months.
It’s far from ideal to be losing key players, and it will test the quality and depth in Emery’s squad as he looks to others to step up and fill the voids left behind by their teammates.
Further, with the transfer window open for business this month, it will be interesting to see who comes in to bolster the group, as it’s a balancing act for Emery and the Villa management as they continue to strive to improve the squad and build on what we already have regardless of injuries.
Jacob Ramsey has now returned from a setback of his own while Morgan Rogers will be available again next week after serving his suspension. Leon Bailey, Emiliano Buendia, Jaden Philogene and the likes of Youri Tielemans and Ross Barkley can all play in advanced, attacking roles behind our frontman, and so we’ll hopefully cope without McGinn for the next few weeks and hope that he can recover at the lower end of his touted recovery timeline.
