Aston Villa host Fulham on Tuesday night and Unai Emery has confirmed our latest team news as we face an anxious wait on Emiliano Martinez.
The 30-year-old was forced off at half-time in our 1-1 draw with Brentford last weekend, with Emery confirming after the game that he had been struggling with a stomach bug.
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Meanwhile, Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, Philippe Coutinho and Leon Bailey all missed out again on Saturday, and the Villa boss has confirmed that the key quartet will be absent in midweek against Fulham too.
There was a more positive outlook on Martinez though, as although the Argentine international faces a late assessment of his availability, Emery sounded hopeful that he will be back between the posts and be able to start the game.
“Hopefully, Emiliano is ready for tomorrow,” said Emery at Monday’s pre-match media conference, via VillaTV. “We are going to know tomorrow morning when we meet to prepare for the match.
“The other players are not players to add for tomorrow, those who are now injured are progressing well but are not ready for tomorrow yet.”
Should he not be at Emery’s disposal, Robin Olsen will come in and deputise, but ultimately given the experience, leadership and quality of Martinez, it would be a significant blow for us if he was forced to miss out in what is a critical period of the season too.
As for the other quartet who remain sidelined, it’s a disappointing setback that they are still unavailable, and although it might take them some time now to be reintegrated into the Villa starting XI in terms of building their match fitness, it’s crucial that we have that depth and competition at Emery’s disposal in the coming weeks.
In turn, it’s hoped that as many of them can recover in time to face Man Utd this weekend, as with just six games to go in the Premier League campaign, having a fully-fit squad will undoubtedly be a major boost for Villa as we continue to push to secure European football for next season.