Aston Villa boss Dean Smith revealed that Leon Bailey missed the win over Newcastle Utd on Saturday due to a tight hamstring.
The 24-year-old made his Villa debut off the bench against Watford in our previous game, making a positive impact and grabbing an assist as we suffered a 3-2 defeat.
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Given the promising first impression the Jamaican international made, there was an air of excitement seeing him in action at Villa Park with the fans returning in numbers.
Unfortunately though, as the starting XI and bench was confirmed, Bailey’s absence was noticeable, with Smith clearing up the reason behind it prior to the game.
As seen in the video below, the Villa boss confirmed that Bailey had sustained a hamstring issue in training this week, and so it was decided that he wouldn’t be risked against Newcastle Utd and thus put him in a position to potentially be sidelined for longer.
Dean Smith confirms Leon Bailey misses out due to a tight hamstring, not risked.#avfc #UTV #AVLNEWpic.twitter.com/HmeRiFTZ3F
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) August 21, 2021
It was a sensible decision from the medical staff with Villa securing a 2-0 win over the Magpies without Bailey, but naturally the hope will be he is ready to return against Brentford next weekend.
Villa have been hit with a number of injury and fitness issues in the opening weeks of the campaign, with Ollie Watkins and Bertrand Traore also absent, while the likes of Matt Targett and Douglas Luiz have been catching up fitness wise.
While it’s hoped that Smith has a near fully-fit squad available for the game against Brentford, the international break will perhaps come at a good time for us in order to allow those currently sidelined to be ready to return.