As with every international break, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery would have been hoping to see his players all come through unscathed to give him a fully-fit squad.
There was good news over the past fortnight as Boubacar Kamara is closing in on a return after his injury setback prior to the break, but unfortunately there was a fresh blow with Matty Cash suffering a calf issue while in action for Poland.
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Speaking about the Villa right-back at his pre-Chelsea press conference this week, Emery confirmed the setback and put a potential recovery timeline in place, with Cash now set to be sidelined for around three weeks.
“Cash is injured and he is going to be out for a couple of weeks, maybe more, hopefully less than three weeks,” Emery told reporters this week, as per VillaTV. “But more or less, this injury, going normally for the player, is three weeks.”
That in turn will see him miss encounters with Chelsea, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest, while he’ll hope to be back in contention by the time we face Newcastle Utd on April 15, but if not, then Brentford a week later as we enter a critical period of the campaign as we attempt to push for European qualification spots.
While there’s never an ‘ideal’ time to pick up an injury, there is real frustration and disappointment over the timing of this one, given Cash’s form prior to the break.
After losing his spot in the Villa XI after the World Cup, with Ashley Young doing an excellent job in his place, question marks were perhaps raised over the 25-year-old’s ability to adapt and adjust to the tactical demands made of him by Emery.
There was also a failed experiment of playing in a more advanced role on the right flank against Wolves, but to his credit, Cash continued to plug away and eventually won his spot back against Arsenal in February.
Given the result in that game, it can hardly be considered a successful return to the line-up, but with his assist and overall play, he earned Emery’s trust to remain in the side and went on to start five consecutive league games.
With his defensive resolve, energy, tenacity, attacking ability and improved tactical understanding of the job being asked of him, Cash looked settled and assured in his position and role, and that was a key factor in us conceding just one goal in four games prior to the break, with that only goal coming from the penalty spot at West Ham.
It was a settled back four that complemented each other well ahead of Emiliano Martinez, and Cash’s presence will now be missed which attests to the turnaround seen with him through his hard work and commitment to prove himself to Emery.
Young will undoubtedly do a professional job and be a reliable replacement as he deputises for as long as needed, but it’s hoped Cash can make a swift and full recovery from the setback and continue to show his improvement and development under the Villa boss sooner rather than later.