Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn is reportedly set for an extended period on the sidelines with his hamstring injury.
The 28-year-old suffered the setback in the latter stages of our win over Tottenham on New Year’s Day, and given the nature of the issue, it didn’t come as much of a surprise that he was absent for our last two games against Wolves and Stevenage.
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It had been hoped that he would be back in contention for our upcoming games though, but according to BirminghamLive, McGinn could be out for the rest of the month with a grade two hamstring tear.
It’s added that that level of injury usually means a four-to-eight-week spell on the sidelines, and so that could rule him out until February at least, depending on how the injury heals and if he doesn’t suffer any setbacks along the way.
Nevertheless, we’ll wait for official confirmation from Unai Emery as he may provide an update prior to our game against Leeds Utd on Friday night, as he’ll hopefully also offer an indication of the recovery period for the Villa midfielder.
After struggling for form to start the season, McGinn had begun to establish himself as an important figure in the Villa XI under Emery in more recent outings, solidifying his spot in the side on the right side of midfield.
Considering our two results last week without him, it perhaps says something about the influence his work ethic and presence has on the team, and so it is a disappointing blow given Emery was clearly pleased with the balance in the team with McGinn operating in a wider role.
Morgan Sanson did well in a rare start against Stevenage as he also bagged a goal, and so he’ll hope that he can step in and fill that void for as long as McGinn is unavailable having struggled to secure a consistent run in the line-up since his arrival.
Further, having made his comeback from a hamstring injury of his own on Sunday, Jacob Ramsey will be another option for the Villa boss, who favoured the youngster in that position in his first two games at the helm.
It’s far from ideal to be without McGinn especially when considering how he and the team were performing up until that Spurs game, but we should have enough quality in our depth to deal with his absence and hopefully have him back ahead of schedule.