Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has provided a team news update ahead of our Premier League encounter with Luton Town on Sunday.
Villa will go in search of a 12th consecutive league home win this weekend, with confidence and belief further boosted after our 4-1 win at AZ Alkmaar in midweek.
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The key factor on Sunday though is the fitness of the players, as with little time in between games to recover and train, we’ll hopefully be able to regroup, recharge and keep our momentum going.
Speaking ahead of the visit of Luton, Emery confirmed that both Jacob Ramsey [foot] and Alex Moreno [hamstring] remain sidelined due to injury, but there are no fresh knocks to report.
Time will tell though having had a rest day on Friday, whether or not everyone who featured in the Europa Conference League will be fit enough to either start, or make the matchday squad.
“Always when we are playing on Thursday, today is a day to rest, to recover and work with the players who didn’t play,” he told the media at his pre-match press conference.
“Tomorrow is the day when we can know more about the players who played yesterday, but there is nothing serious or relevant to the match on Sunday.
“Jacob Ramsey and Alex Moreno are still out. Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia are always in our minds.”
It’s a blow to still be without Ramsey and Moreno, as aside from the fact that they add quality to the group and are a significant influence in the side when involved, we’re continuing to put a heavy workload on the likes of Lucas Digne in their absence.
Nevertheless, it’s hoped that they’re in a position to return soon, and given Emery was able to rotate in some positions in midweek, the likes of Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby will be expected to come back into the Villa starting line-up for our upcoming fixture.
In addition to the four changes that Emery made on Thursday, Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey were all withdrawn before the end of the encounter, and so that will hopefully help them as they rest up and get ready to play a key role again this Sunday.