Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard has provided an update on team news ahead of our Premier League season opener against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Villa travel to the Vitality Stadium this weekend looking to make a positive start to the campaign, and Gerrard will no doubt have been hoping to have a fully fit squad at his disposal.
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While we’re not far off from that ideal situation, the Villa boss has provided updates on Emiliano Buendia, Tyrone Mings and Calum Chambers, who were all doubts earlier in the week, but the good news is that they are expected to be available for selection on Saturday.
“We’ve had a couple of niggles within the last seven days,” he told the media on Friday, as per the club’s site. “Tyrone Mings, Emi Buendía to name a couple, but we have a full squad available who trained yesterday. If they get through today’s session, we should have a full squad to pick from.”
Meanwhile, Villa confirmed on Twitter that Chambers has been struggling with illness, but similarly to the pair above, he’s in contention to feature this weekend.
However, there wasn’t as positive news on two other Villa players, with Kortney Hause ruled out as he continues his recovery from injury, while Keinan Davis will step up his comeback with an outing for the U21s on Friday night having picked up an issue at the back-end of last season at Nottingham Forest.
“Kortney Hause is still not back with the team, Keinan Davis is back with the team and the plan is for him to get some minutes in the U21 game later on,” Gerrard added. “Outside of those two, we’re fully fit and ready to go.”
After a strong pre-season with no notable setbacks and players across the squad getting valuable minutes to build their fitness and sharpness, it’s hoped Villa are now ready for this game as it promises to be a difficult challenge first up on the road against a newly-promoted side.
With the quality that we have across the team though, there will no doubt be confidence within the group of getting a positive result but Gerrard does face some key decisions on his starting line-up this weekend.