Aston Villa defender Matty Cash is reportedly set to be sidelined by a hamstring injury for up to three weeks in an injury blow for Unai Emery.
The 26-year-old suffered the setback while on international duty with Poland this past week, and it’s a disappointing blow given the important run-in we have coming up to end the season.
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According to Fabrizio Romano, Cash will be ruled out for up to three weeks with the hamstring issue, which in turn means he is likely to miss games against Wolves, Man City, Brentford, Lille and Arsenal at least.
Emery will speak with the media in his pre-Wolves press conference on Friday and will offer an official update on the Polish international, but the initial reports seemingly aren’t promising as we look set to be without him for a significant period.
Cash has made 40 appearances across all competitions so far this season, scoring four goals and providing two assists to go with his defensive work, and he continues to be an important option at right-back for the Villa boss.
In his absence, the expectation is that Ezri Konsa will be shifted across to fill in with the likes of Pau Torres, Diego Carlos and Clement Lenglet playing as our centre-halves, but that set-up has had mixed results in recent weeks.
Youngster Kaine Kesler-Hayden will no doubt continue to push for involvement, but given the timeframe, it’s likely that Emery will go with experience and we’ll hopefully find the best balance to put together a strong run of form that builds on a solid backline.
While Cash has his detractors, he does offer a crucial option in that right-back role with his defensive qualities coupled with the energy and technical ability to get forward and provide width and an attacking outlet, and at this stage of the campaign, it’s a blow to lose any of our senior players.
Nevertheless, Emery will have confidence in the others at his disposal, and it’s hoped that we can continue our push for a top-four Premier League finish and progress in the Europa Conference League regardless of any fresh injury setbacks.
