Leeds United head to Villa Park for a huge Premier League game on Saturday.
Aston Villa will hope for some relief from their injury issues ahead of this weekend’s Premier League meeting with Leeds United.
Villa’s cup defeat came without right-back Matty Cash, who has missed his side’s last two games with a knee injury. The Poland international had scans following a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth earlier this month and subsequently sat out a 1-0 win over Brighton and Saturday’s defeat against Newcastle.
In his place over the past week has been Lamare Bogarde, naturally a central midfielder but someone with impressive versatility. Cash’s only natural cover, Andres Garcia, is currently out with a hamstring injury.
“Usually, as a coach, I had this problem a lot of times,” Emery said recently. “And how I needed to take the decision, building the team, trying some players being with the possibility to play different positions, being versatile.
“Now, I don’t have another issue different than before I had in another moment, or in other countries and other clubs, or even here in Aston Villa. And other teams, as well, they have this problem with players being injured.
“We have enough players to replace as a midfielder, to replace as well, full-back, Andrés [García] and Matty Cash, with the players we have. The players, they are ready to play, and they are always opening their mind to try to help us in different positions, being versatile.”
Matty Cash hope but injury issues remain ahead of Leeds United
The Athletic report that Cash is hoping to return in time to face Leeds on Saturday, however, with those earlier scans showing no serious issues. The 28-year-old’s comeback would be a welcome boost for Villa, who have had torrid recent luck with injuries in another key area of the pitch.
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Villa were rocked by a trio of midfield injuries last month with Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans and John McGinn all picking up issues in quick succession. All three will miss Saturday’s meeting with Leeds and their long-term absences forced the midlands club into the January market, re-signing Douglas Luiz on loan from Juventus.
Emery’s side have struggled in the weeks since that trio of injuries, winning just one of their past four games across all competitions. The Champions League hopefuls needed an 86th-minute own-goal to beat struggling Brighton while losing to Brentford and Newcastle while drawing against Bournemouth.
Leeds will hope to take advantage of that run on Saturday having lost the reverse fixture 2-1 in November. The Whites have only lost three of their 16 games across all competitions since, with Daniel Farke’s side in great form.
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