Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is hopeful that Morgan Rogers will be available to face Crystal Palace on Tuesday night.
The 22-year-old has been a key figure for us so far this season, making 36 appearances across all competitions while contributing 11 goals and six assists.
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It has been a continuation of his development and progress since arriving to work under Emery, as he has firmly established himself as a leading and influential part of our attacking unit.
One of his biggest strengths has been his availability and reliability as an almost ever-present this season, but that could be placed in doubt next week.
The England international was eventually forced off in the 78th minute of our win over Chelsea on Saturday night after picking up a knock following a strong tackle, and Emery has conceded that Rogers asked to be replaced, thus putting his participation against Palace in doubt.
“Morgan (Rogers) is playing a lot of minutes because physically he can do it,” the villa boss said, as per the Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell. “But today he had a kick and he was asking me to replace him. Hopefully, he could play on Tuesday.”
Although he has been a fundamental presence in the Villa side this season, there is an argument in favour of not even running the risk of rushing him back if the issue is still bothering him next week given our current options in attack.
Marcus Rashford was decisive off the bench against Chelsea while Marco Asensio emerged as our match-winner as our January recruits continue to make a positive impact.
Further, with Jacob Ramsey, Donyell Malen and Leon Bailey all in contention too, it may well be the sensible decision to protect Rogers in midweek and ensure he’s fully fit and at his best before he comes back into the side.
Much will likely depend on the severity of his issue though, and it’s hoped that he hasn’t suffered a setback that will force him to be sidelined, even if for a short period of time.
