Aston Villa face Ajax in the first leg of our round-of-16 Europa Conference League tie on Thursday, and Unai Emery has provided our latest team news.
Having won three consecutive Premier League games to get back on track, Villa will travel to Amsterdam this week in confident mood as we look to bring an advantage back with us for the second leg.
READ MORE: Emery in search of ideal balance as Villa face decisive week
With a crunch clash against Tottenham on Sunday to also prepare for though, Emery would have been hoping for good news in relation to the availability of his squad, as he may well rotate and lean on our strength in depth to compete across both fronts.
There was an anxious wait on Jacob Ramsey in particular after he limped off in our win over Luton Town last weekend, with fears that he had sustained another foot injury having already missed a significant part of the campaign with similar problems.
Fortunately though, there was a positive update on the 22-year-old, as although he has been ruled out against Ajax, Emery has confirmed that it isn’t a serious injury, and so there is hope that he might be available to face Spurs at the weekend.
“Jacob Ramsey’s not available for tomorrow,” he told the media, as per VillaTV. “He is not with a big injury, but we have to wait every day to see how he is progressing to be available for the next match on Sunday. The good news is it is not an important injury like before.”
Although Ramsey has had a limited influence so far this season given those injury problems, having contributed one goal and two assists in 21 appearances across all competitions, he remains an important figure for Emery given his impact in the side in both phases of the game.
In turn, it’s great to hear that he won’t be set for another lengthy stint in the treatment room, and we’ll certainly benefit from having that competition for places as we head into the business end of the season.
It’s a crucial week for Villa given the next three games could ultimately shape how our year goes, and so it’s hoped that we’ll avoid any further injury blows having already suffered significant setbacks with long-term absentees Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia and Boubacar Kamara as well as others being in and out of the squad.