Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has provided our latest team news ahead of our Premier League encounter against Tottenham on Sunday.
With the international break now concluded, focus switches back to domestic action as we try to build on our positive start to the campaign and close the gap on the top four.
READ MORE: Five key tests Villa now face in crucial run in fixture schedule
As is often the case off the back of a break, there is concern over potential new injury issues for key players while they were away, and although Emery revealed several key individuals have picked up knocks, we should be close to full strength, albeit still being without long-term absentees Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings.
However, the Villa boss did reveal that he’s hopeful that John McGinn, Emiliano Martinez, Leon Bailey and Nicolo Zaniolo will all recover and feature on Sunday, while we have the added bonus of having Jacob Ramsey, Alex Moreno and Tim Iroegbunam available too.
“John trained well today,” he said, as per VillaTV. “Yesterday he came back here with us and he rested. But today he was training and, at the end of training, I asked him and he told me he’s ready. Hopefully tomorrow it doesn’t change and I think he will be okay for Sunday.
“Some players are coming back after their international matches with a little bit of doubt for Sunday. Emi, Leon and Nicolò are hopefully well, but Bertrand Traoré is coming back injured.
“The recovery of Jacob Ramsey, Álex Moreno and Tim is really, really important for us.
“Leon and Nicolò worked alone this morning trying to test if they are going to be ready for Sunday, and more or less the tests were positive. Emi tested this morning as well because he has a small pain, but I think he’s going to be ready for Sunday.
“Bertrand is completely 100% injured and not available for Sunday.”
Although it’s disappointing to hear Traore is sidelined again, given his limited impact thus far this season, it isn’t as big a blow as the absence of any other player in the list above, and so Villa will hopefully go into the trip to Tottenham in good shape.
Emery will hope to have fundamental players like Martinez and McGinn fit to start, while having Bailey, Zaniolo, Ramsey and Moreno healthy will give him options and depth to change the game if necessary too.
A key point of focus now will be improving our away form to match our strong form at home, and if we can do that through a difficult run now ahead of the festive period, it will certainly put us in a stronger position.
While it’s a huge boost to have Ramsey and Moreno back after lengthy absences, it’s equally as important that we keep everyone else fit to ensure we have competition and depth through a hectic schedule to sustain what we’ve done to this point.
