Aston Villa continue to get hit by injury blows as it’s reported that Youri Tielemans now faces an extended period out with an ankle injury.
Boubacar Kamara’s season has come to a premature end after he suffered a knee injury earlier this month, while John McGinn confirmed this week that he has undergone surgery after suffering a knee issue of his own.
The Villa captain is expected to return in around two months time, but now Tielemans will join him in the treatment room in the coming weeks.
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According to The Athletic, The Belgian international could be ruled out for over two months, although it’s hoped that further tests reveal that it might not be as bad as feared.
It comes after he was the subject of a heavy foul in our win over Newcastle United this past weekend – one which also went unpunished similar to the one that ended Kamara’s season – and there were immediate fears that he had sustained a setback given the nature of the twist in his ankle.
Tielemans is undoubtedly a fundamental cog in Unai Emery’s side, and so it’s a massive blow to now lose him for the next couple of months with so many crucial fixtures ahead of us.
Similarly to McGinn though, it’s hoped that the midfield pair are able to recover in time to play a critical role in our push for silverware towards the back-end of the season, while speculation suggests that Douglas Luiz is on his way back to the club this week to help fill those voids.
More will be expected, and needed, from Amadou Onana, Lamare Bogarde, George Hemmings and Ross Barkley too as the latter is set to return to group training on Friday, but it doesn’t soften the blow of losing Tielemans, Kamara and McGinn when you consider just how important and influential they are for us.
Such is the brilliance of Emery’s structure, system and way of playing though, it’s built to mitigate the damage of injuries, to an extent, given players coming into the side know their role and fit in seamlessly at times.
In turn, it’s hoped that we can continue to tick along without several key individuals, and ensure that we’re in a strong position when they do return to help get us over the line.
