Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has revealed that Pau Torres picked up an injury during our win over Brentford, but he’s hopeful it’s only a minor issue.
The Spanish centre-half was replaced in the 81st minute, but at the time it was interpreted as a tactical move as Emery went more attacking in search of a winning goal.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Villa battle back to secure win at Brentford
It was a decision that paid off as Ollie Watkins scored just four minutes later to complete our comeback, and there didn’t appear to be any sign of Torres struggling prior to being taken off.
However, speaking after the game, the Villa boss revealed that the 26-year-old did pick up an issue, but he sounded relatively optimistic that it wouldn’t be a setback that would force him to sit out for an extended period of time.
“Hopefully it is a small injury. Hopefully. The big problem today is the red card of Kamara,” he said, as quoted by BirminghamLive’s John Townley.
Villa host Sheffield Utd on Friday night and so it’s a quick turnaround this week, which will perhaps make it more complicated for Torres to be passed fit in time.
Given how influential he has been for us so far this season, not only with his defensive attributes but also his ability to build our play out from the back with his composure, technical quality and vision, he will be a big miss if he is sidelined on Friday.
That in turn though could see Clement Lenglet get his first appearance in the Premier League in a Villa shirt since his summer arrival in a season-long loan deal from Barcelona, unless Diego Carlos shifts across with Ezri Konsa joining him in the middle, opening the door for Matty Cash to return to his right-back role.
Firstly though, Torres will be assessed and we’ll hopefully have a clearer idea of his condition when Emery speaks in his pre-match press conference later this week.
As per The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell, he echoed Emery’s comments on Torres, while adding that the Villa boss is still unsure if Youri Tielemans will return to face the Blades after missing out this past weekend with a fitness issue of his own.
