Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that Lucas Digne suffered a hamstring injury in our defeat at Man Utd on Tuesday night.
It was a bitterly disappointing outcome at Old Trafford as Villa surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2, and there were certainly aspects of the performance that simply weren’t good enough if we want to take that next step.
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In the bigger picture, we’ve had an incredible first half of the Premier League season as we sit in third place with 39 points from our 19 games, but taking this game in isolation, Emery will surely know better than anyone that it wasn’t in keeping with the standards he’s trying to set at the club.
While we’ll now look to respond and bounce back against Burnley this weekend, we may have to do so without the services of Digne, and therefore be forced into another change to the backline.
The French left-back was replaced after 50 minutes and required help to exit the pitch and take his seat on the bench, as he appeared to have suffered a serious knock after an apparent collision with the post while trying to clear danger.
Speaking after the game, Emery provided an update on his condition and raised real doubt over his availability for Saturday afternoon.
“I think he’s going to be injured. Hamstring,” he said, as quoted by BBC Sport.
We’ll no doubt hear more from Emery in his pre-match press conference later this week and that in turn will give us a better idea as to how long Digne might be ruled out for.
That should now though open the door for Alex Moreno to re-establish himself in the Villa XI, while we’ll hopefully have Pau Torres back for that encounter too after he was fit enough to make the bench after being sidelined by an ankle issue.
With the volume of games we’re facing though, it’s important we don’t lose any more players to long-term injuries, and so hopefully Digne will be able to recover to make the bench at least.