Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that Tyrone Mings remains sidelined by injury ahead of our Europa League clash with Young Boys on Thursday night.
Villa sit in sixth place in the league table after four games, as we look to continue our strong home form in Europe and take another important step towards qualifying for the next phase.
Our win over Leeds United on Sunday coming out of the international break will have been a boost for all concerned, and it’s hoped that we can continue to build on that momentum having won nine of our 11 outings across all competitions.
Want more Villa news? Subscribe to Talk Villa+ below for ad-free weekly newsletters, exclusive articles and much more sent directly to you. The TalkVilla podcast is also now available, have a listen, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or YouTube. UTV!
Ideally, we’ll have as close to a fully-fit squad as possible in the coming weeks, and it certainly sounds as though we’re not too far off having that now as Emery spoke to the media in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday and confirmed our latest team news.
“The only player out is Tyrone Mings,” he told reporters, as per VillaTV. “The other players are in the squad for tomorrow. We will have a meeting in the morning and analyse each individual situation about us and the opponent.”
That in turn means both Amadou Onana and Andres Garcia are back in training and available, and so it’s hoped that they’re able to make the matchday squad. In Onana’s case, it hopefully hasn’t disrupted his momentum too much after enjoying an impressive run of form and a consistent run in the side prior to the break, while Garcia will be desperate to stay fit after a lengthy layoff and become a more consistent option at Emery’s disposal.
Villa are likely to make a number of changes in midweek to rotate and rest key individuals as we have a busy schedule coming up across the Premier League and Europa League, but such is our strength in depth, the quality level shouldn’t dip too much and it’s important to have every player fit, sharp and playing at a high level when they’re needed.
Time will tell if that even means a rare appearance for Harvey Elliott after his recent struggles to make the matchday squad, with Emery insisting once again on Wednesday that he’s happy with the Villa loanee and his application in training, and so it remains to be seen if he gets an opportunity to impress on the pitch this week and over the festive period.
