Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings was stretchered off in our 5-1 defeat to Newcastle Utd, and Unai Emery has conceded that it ‘doesn’t look good’.
Mings was replaced after 31 minutes after his leg appeared to buckle while sprinting back to clear danger having landed awkwardly on it, and his immediate reaction suggested that it was serious.
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The 30-year-old rarely stays down in such pain, and with the stretcher being brought on, it quickly became apparent that he had sustained a concerning issue.
Sky Sports confirmed on their live broadcast that he had been taken to a local hospital for further tests, but the results of those are not yet known while Villa will undoubtedly carry out additional scans in the coming days to determine the severity of the issue.
However, the signs are not positive thus far, and Emery did little to allay fears over Mings’ setback, as it sounds as though the Villa centre-half is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
“This week is very sad for us,” Emery said, as per BBC Sport. “With Emilio Buendia, today with Tyrone Mings. We lost today but there was something that was more than we wanted but the worst today was the injury with Tyrone. We have to take some days in reflection and then prepare for the game against Everton.
“It doesn’t look good [Mings injury]. We have lost two players and they are very important players. We have to analyse.
“It doesn’t look good. He is injured. This week has been very tough, we lost Emi Buendia and today we lost Tyrone Mings, two important players in the squad. Everything this week is not working well but we are going to react. I want to be positive with the players we have and we can change the situation.”
Meanwhile, those concerned and anxious feelings were echoed by Villa captain John McGinn, as it was clear from the reaction of the players huddled around Mings that it was serious.
Time will tell what the scans reveal and how long his recovery will take before he’s in a position to feature again, but McGinn conceded that it hurts us to lose two key individuals in a week to injury, but was defiant in his message in terms of dealing with that and continuing to compete in their absence.
“Tyrone is a huge player for us,” McGinn said. “A leader. After losing Emi [Buendia], it is a bitter bow and we are keeping our fingers crossed for him. It is devastating to see him like that. Pau [Torres] comes in, we’ve spent a lot of money to recruit him, and we have no excuses.”
It has ultimately been a nightmare week to start the new season both in terms of the result on Saturday and the injuries suffered by Buendia and Mings, but it’s hoped that the squad and coaching staff regroup and respond this week before facing Everton, as we simply have to deal with the adversity in the best way possible.
Losing important players is never an easy thing to cope with, especially with a string of other individuals already sidelined with problems, and so Emery will no doubt find solutions in the coming weeks as we await their respective returns, while it remains to be seen how much more business we do in this transfer window in reaction to these setbacks.
