Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has provided a positive update on Tyrone Mings after his injury scare against West Ham Utd this past weekend.
The 31-year-old was forced off after just 38 minutes in our 1-1 draw on Sunday after he took a hit to his knee in a heavy challenge, and although there were initially encouraging signs as he tried to continue, Mings was emotional as he left the pitch and headed straight down the tunnel as he realised he had to come off.
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That in turn sparked injury concerns given his history, and there was an anxious wait this week to determine the severity of the problem and confirm if the Villa centre-half would be forced to endure another lengthy spell on the sidelines.
For Villa, those concerns were exacerbated by the fact that Pau Torres is also currently out with an injury of his own, while Diego Carlos left earlier this month to leave us short in defence with Ezri Konsa our only senior option to play in the middle.
Fortunately though, Emery has provided a positive update on Mings as he has insisted that it isn’t a serious issue, and although our clash with Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday night may come too soon for him, it sounds as though he could be back in contention sooner rather than later.
“It’s not a big injury but every day is going to be very important on how he could feel better or worse. We will train this afternoon and will see how he is feeling,” he told reporters at his pre-match press conference.
The expectation is that Villa will move to bring in a defensive reinforcement this week regardless to fill the void left behind by Carlos, but ultimately this is significant and positive news as not only is Mings crucial for us with his leadership, defensive strengths and ability to provide balance as the left-sided centre-half, but another long-term setback would have raised question marks over his future and perhaps forced us to consider a couple of new signings in that department.
Instead, Villa will likely focus on and prioritise our top target to improve our backline, and it’s hoped that we see Mings back in action this week, as he continues to play a pivotal role while Torres is sidelined for another month or so at least.
Emery went on to suggest that talented youngster Lamare Bogarde will be an important option moving forward too, while Lucas Digne could offer a temporary solution after filling that void against West Ham after Mings was replaced.
“We will see this afternoon and then we are going to decide how every player is feeling,” he added, as per BirminghamLive. “We have Lamare Bogarde in the squad as well, he is training every day and competing very well. Sil [Swinkels] is another option because he is training with us, but we are thinking of letting him leave on loan. I think he will need more experience to get minutes.
“We have enough players to compete and feel confidence. For example, Lucas Digne is left-footed and is an experienced player. He can feel confident [playing at centre-back]. Firstly, if Tyrone Mings is available then he could play, but if not, Bogarde – who has usually played in midfield – he is training sometimes as a centre-back. I am confident and I believe in the squad we have.
“We now have injured players, but this is something every team has. We have a circumstance where Diego Carlos wanted to leave and he pushed us to let him leave. I believe in the players we have in the squad.”