Aston Villa boss Unai Emery provided an update on Nicolo Zaniolo, Alex Moreno and Youri Tielemans as they remain sidelined by injury.
A depleted Villa squad travelled to Piraeus for the second leg of our Europa Conference League semi-final tie with Olympiacos on Thursday, as we eventually exited the competition after a 6-2 aggregate defeat.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Villa’s European run ends with Olympiacos defeat
Given our lengthy list of absentees, Unai Emery had several of our inexperienced youngsters fill the bench, as injuries have proven to be damaging in recent weeks with those available to the Villa boss clearly showing struggles in terms of fatigue.
It had been hoped that we would receive significant boosts for the trip to Greece, but ultimately it was Emiliano Martinez who emerged as the only player able to return to feature, with several others still not fit enough to make their respective comebacks.
While there was a positive update from Emery on three of them in terms of the short-term nature of their setbacks, it remains to be seen if they’re able to feature against Liverpool on Monday night as we try to secure Champions League qualification.
“Hopefully Zaniolo is close,” he told reporters, as per the Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell. “Alex Moreno has a small injury and will need a few days. Youri Tielemans is a small injury too.”
There’s no denying that Villa have run out of steam in the latter stages of the season as we’ve been unable to consistently perform at the level and standard that we’ve set all year to put ourselves in this position, as we reach the mark of 50 games played this campaign.
Having lost Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendia to long-term injuries, coupled with the lengthy absences of Boubacar Kamara and Jacob Ramsey as well as various other key individuals missing time at various points, it has been hard for the others to cope with the workload put on them.
It’s hoped our injury luck is much better next season and we can get all those players back over pre-season and keep them healthy, while Emery will know better than anyone where we still need to improve and strengthen if we are to build on this season and continue our progression and development.
Maybe Uni should look at the Clough philosophy of light training to keep some fuel in the tank and not leave it on the training ground. Could help with injuries also. At least at the final stages of the season.
Something has to change with the English clubs competing in Europe, not getting a week off from league commitments, while they play abroad, like their Euro counterparts. Hence, we are all eliminated. EPL needs Euro success to boost the revenue and how can they crow about being the best league in the world?
UTV