Aston Villa boss Unai Emery believes Emiliano Martinez will recover to face Brentford on Saturday, while he also provided an update on Ollie Watkins.
Despite being initially named in the starting line-up for our clash with Man City on Wednesday night, Martinez was later ruled out due to illness, with Robin Olsen stepping in to replace him.
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Although the experienced Swede produced a positive display in between the posts, it wasn’t enough to help prevent us from suffering a 4-1 defeat at the Etihad, and so now our encounter with Brentford this weekend becomes all the more important.
Speaking after the game in Manchester, Emery revealed that Martinez should be able to recover in time to take his place back in the Villa XI against Brentford, while he also offered the latest on Watkins, who missed out in midweek after being replaced at half-time in the win over Wolves last weekend due to a hamstring issue.
As per the Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell, Emery noted that he believes Martinez will be available for selection this weekend, while we’ll hope for positive news on Watkins, who he said is set to be checked again on Thursday to determine whether or not he’ll be able to feature against Brentford.
All eyes will be on group training at Bodymoor Heath in the coming days before Emery speaks to the media at his pre-match press conference on Friday, as we’ll hope to see both Martinez and Watkins working with their teammates.
Further, John McGinn is set to return from his suspension, while Jacob Ramsey will hopefully edge ever closer to making a comeback after his latest foot issue.
Emery opted to make changes on Wednesday to rotate and rest key individuals as well as dealing with enforced tweaks, but we’ll hopefully have as close to our full strength starting line-up available when we take on Brentford, with a win now pivotal to our hopes of securing Champions League football next season.
Given what Martinez brings at the back with his experience and game-changing interventions, and with the decisive influence Watkins has up top, it’s critical that we get that duo back as soon as possible.
