Aston Villa defender Matty Cash has revealed that he’s targeting a return from injury to feature in our Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on October 2.
The 27-year-old has been sidelined after sustaining a hamstring injury in our defeat to Arsenal on August 24, and that in turn has forced him to miss games against Leicester City, Everton and Young Boys.
Unai Emery has been able to call upon our talented young duo of Kosta Nedeljkovic and Lamare Bogarde to help fill that void left behind by Cash, while Ezri Konsa shifted across to right-back in the second half in Bern in midweek as we utilised his versatility to provide another solution too.
However, it will certainly be a boost to have the experience of Cash back in the Villa defence and to have a natural right-back in place to give us an important balance in the side, but although he’s been spotted in images this week training with his teammates in the gym at Bodymoor Heath, it doesn’t sound as though he’ll be back just yet.
“Yeah, I should be back for that one,” he told CBS Sports Golazo. “I’m hoping to train next week, because I can’t miss that Bayern Munich game. It’s what you dream of as a young boy to play in the Champions League. I’m going to be doing everything I can to get back for that. Villa Park will be on fire I’m sure, especially in the first Champions League game at home back after a very long time. Excited for it.”
If the Polish international wishes to feature in that game against the Bavarian giants though, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll just come straight back into the side after a lengthy layoff, and so it will be interesting to see if he’s involved against Wycombe Wanderers or Ipswich Town next week to build up his match fitness and sharpness again.
It’s great to hear that he will be back training next week though as that’s an important boost in itself, as he’ll join Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara in being on the verge of making their respective comebacks from injuries too as we move closer to having a full squad at Emery’s disposal.
Both Nedeljkovic and Bogarde have bright futures ahead of them and will undoubtedly get more opportunities as the season progresses, but Cash will offer a steady and experienced option for Emery that may well be needed in big games, and so the sooner he’s back in the matchday squad the better from a Villa perspective to help us compete on multiple fronts this year.
