Aston Villa face Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, and it appears as though there was good news in training during the week.
After the high of our winning start to our Champions League campaign on Tuesday night, Villa will look to make it four wins in our opening five games of the domestic campaign against Gary O’Neil’s side.
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It has proven to be a tricky fixture for us over the years and so we’ll have to be at our best to secure all three points, and to have the best possible chance of doing that, it would certainly be helpful for Unai Emery to have as close to a fully-fit squad available as possible.
As seen in images shared by the club in Thursday’s training session, Ollie Watkins was involved with the rest of the group after concern was raised earlier this week when he was seen with ice around his ankle after coming off in our win at Young Boys.
However, given his involvement in the session and after Emery allayed fears after the game, it doesn’t appear as though he’s going to be absent this weekend, and the likelihood is that he’ll keep his starting spot and continue to lead the Villa line as he looks to add to his tally for the campaign.
Further, after his recent spell on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury, Matty Cash was also seen working with his teammates again, and so he appears to be closing in on a return to action, which in turn will boost our options at right-back after Kosta Nedeljkovic and Lamare Bogarde have filled in for the Polish international.
Time will tell if he’ll return to the matchday squad this weekend or if it comes too soon for him, but he’s evidently taken an important step forward in his comeback push.
Coupled with the sight of Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara continuing group work as they go through the final stages of their respective injury recoveries, there is hopefully good news coming over the next week or so as we edge closer to having a complete squad at Emery’s disposal.
Aside from the obvious positive of having quality and competition in the squad, it also gives the Villa boss the ability to rotate and rest key individuals when needed without a significant drop off in our performance level, and so with a gruelling season ahead in which we want to compete on multiple fronts for silverware, it will be fundamental to use that depth and keep everyone healthy and as fresh as possible.
Ideally, provided that they are all given the green light to return, the likes of Cash, Mings and Kamara will hopefully target our Carabao Cup encounter with Wycombe Wanderers next week as a potential comeback game, as they’ll need time to work their way back to full speed and top form.
