Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was handed a major boost against Real Sociedad as Pau Torres returned from an injury issue to feature for the first time in pre-season.
The 29-year-old has been absent from our pre-season schedule thus far, and naturally that has been far from ideal for one our most important players to not have game time to prepare as best as possible for the upcoming campaign.
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Online speculation last weekend over the severity of his injury proved to be inaccurate, with trusted reporting suggesting that the Spanish centre-half sustained a minor knock shortly after returning to Bodymoor Heath at the start of the month, and so that allayed initial fears that he might be sidelined for some time.
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Fortunately, any lingering concerns were brushed aside at the Bescot Stadium on Tuesday night, as Pau was named on the bench before coming on in the second half and getting 45 minutes in his legs to kick-start his pre-season work.
While the expectation is that he will now feature prominently on our upcoming tour with Villa playing three games in the space of six days, it was vital for him to get back on the pitch this week as he now plays catch up when it comes to getting back his match fitness and sharpness.
Albeit there is still plenty of time remaining in the transfer window, with Youri Tielemans departing, that could see Unai Emery lean on his influential defensive stalwart more in our build-up phase given his composure and quality in possession, and so it’s imperative that Pau stays fit and features heavily in the season ahead.
With that in mind, it was great to see him return to action and fully dispel those inaccurate rumours that spread on social media this past weekend, and hopefully Emery is now moving closer to having a full squad at his disposal when we travel to Indonesia later this week, as those who were granted an extended break after the World Cup could gradually start to link back up with their Villa teammates too.