Aston Villa boss Unai Emery will be hoping for positive news on the injury front after the international break concludes later this month.
Villa return to action when we host West Ham Utd on October 22, and so there is a fortnight now for not only the individuals who haven’t been called up to recharge and tick over at Bodymoor Heath, but for those who are injured or coming back from injury, to move closer to a comeback without missing further playing time.
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Long-term absentees Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendia will hopefully continue to make progress in their respective recoveries, while as per the Telegraph’s Matt Law, Jacob Ramsey is expected to be out for around six weeks after suffering a recurrence of his foot injury.
That timeline suggests we won’t see him until the end of November, and so it’s hoped that he doesn’t suffer any further setbacks now and his treatment goes to plan to get him back on time.
However, there are two boosts that Villa could receive in the short term, with Alex Moreno expected to resume group training in the coming weeks, while Tim Iroegbunam is stepping up his return after a lengthy spell on the sidelines too.
“Alex Moreno was progressing, he was working with the team, he was doing training sessions, but he needed to stop because he wasn’t feeling good,” Emery told the media last week, as per VillaTV. “Now, he’s feeling better and hopefully after the break he could be with the group, training every day.
As we’ve seen with other players who have picked up knocks, the Villa boss wants them to integrate back into the squad via a significant number of training sessions with the squad before they return to the fold for match-day.
In turn, it’s hoped that we see Moreno involved with his teammates on the outside pitches at the training ground in the next fortnight, and that in turn could see him come into contention to face West Ham.
Given the workload that Lucas Digne has had to take on so far this season, it’s imperative that the Spaniard is back soon, as while he arguably offers a better suited option at left-back given how influential and impressive he was in the second half of last season, at the very least he adds healthy competition in that role and an option to rotate.
Naturally, having already suffered one setback, Villa won’t rush him back and will be certain he’s ready to return before making that decision, but it will be an important boost when Moreno is back in the mix.
As for Iroegbunam, there is of course a small sample size in terms of what we’ve seen he’s capable of, having only made four appearances at senior level, prior to his loan stint at QPR last season.
However, he would have gained a lot from that experience on and off the pitch, and having impressed in the first half at Walsall in pre-season this past summer, it appeared as though he could be set for an important squad role this season.
Our rotten injury luck struck again at that time as he has been sidelined since, but after returning to group training with the senior squad and logging 60 minutes for the U21s last week, the talented 20-year-old is looking good to make a comeback after the break.
He’ll face a fight to move up the pecking order with Youri Tielemans and Leander Dendoncker ahead of him, but with neither Belgian international particularly impressing so far this season, there is certainly an opportunity for Iroegbunam to put himself in contention.
With his technical ability in possession to help progress play quickly up the pitch and through the lines, coupled with his physicality, athleticism and energy off the ball, he really does feel like he could be a great option for Emery in this system and our way of playing in a Kamara-like role.
We’ll likely rotate again when European commitments come into play, and Iroegbunam could get minutes. If he can offer an improvement on Dendoncker in particular in that defensive-minded role in midfield, it could be a vital boost for us in our bid to compete on multiple fronts by having the squad needed to do it.
Good to see Tim Iroegbunam get 60 minutes with the U21s last night. Often got a mention from Emery in his team news updates, hopefully has a role to play to add depth/competition in midfield. Looking forward to seeing him get opportunities.#avfc #UTV pic.twitter.com/jdnUb0kil7
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) October 7, 2023