Aston Villa midfielder Ross Barkley suffered an injury blow in our win over West Ham in the FA Cup on Friday night, and Unai Emery has conceded that he could face up to three weeks out.
The 31-year-old was forced off after just 23 minutes of our cup tie, as despite receiving treatment and trying to loosen up his ankle area, it was decided that he couldn’t continue.
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Amadou Onana replaced him and went on to have an important impact on the game as Villa prevailed to advance to the next round, but there was concern over how serious Barkley’s setback was.
Speaking to the media after the game, Emery confirmed that it’s a calf injury, and he believes that Barkley may well be looking at a few weeks on the sidelines as he recovers, while further scans and tests will undoubtedly provide more clarity in the coming days.
“He had a small injury in his calf,” Emery said, as per BirminghamLive. “Hopefully not a lot, but we will check him. Normally an injury like that can be two or three weeks out.”
It’s certainly a blow for the Villa midfielder as after scoring in our win over Leicester City last weekend and getting another start in this game, he was seemingly building some momentum in his bid to secure a more prominent and consistent role in the Villa line-up.
Emery has always spoken highly of him even when coming off the bench to have an influence on games, and so this is a costly and disappointing setback as we wait to see just how long Barkley needs to fully recover and get back in contention.
It comes at a horrible time too with Villa facing a hectic January as we are still to face Everton, Arsenal, Monaco, West Ham and Celtic before the month ends, and so while we do have the quality and strength in depth in midfield to manage without Barkley, it’s a blow for Emery to lose that alternative dynamic and tactical solution that he provides with his ability to play either deeper or in a more advanced midfield role and add more technical quality in that department.