Latest Aston Villa injury news, expected return dates, suspensions

After a worrying start to the Premier League season, Aston Villa currently find themselves in fifth place and in second place in their tight Europa Conference League group.

The Villans have generally looked excellent so far this term, with some massive wins against Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton, and Chelsea firmly establishing them as a threat to the league’s traditional ‘big six’ sides.

Unai Emery has got his team singing from the same hymn sheet, and the fans have certainly been entertained by his brand of attack-minded football.

However, a shock 2-0 defeat away to Nottingham Forest on the weekend has shown that for as great as this side can be, more work still needs to be done.

To bounce back from this blip, the club will have to do their utmost to avoid injuries to their star players, but that is easier said than done.

With that in mind, Football FanCast is here to keep you updated with the latest injury and suspension news coming out of Villa Park.

Latest Aston Villa injury news

Five Villa players are out of action at the moment, with a mixture of season-ending and season-interrupting injuries among them.

The good news is that Spanish full-back Alex Moreno is almost back to full fitness, and after making it onto the bench against Forest, he could well make his first appearance of the season against Fulham at the weekend.

Likewise, Jacob Ramsey’s recovery continues to go well. However, he won’t be seeing any first-team action until after the international break, with the Conference League game against Legia Warszawa a potential return date.

The last bit of good news is that Matty Cash will be in contention for a starting spot tomorrow after he came off the pitch on Sunday with a shoulder injury. Speaking ahead of the game against AZ Alkmaar, Emery said: “He didn’t have a big problem, it was only a small problem.”

There have been no recent updates regarding Tim Iroegbunam, meaning he is likely set to spend an extended period on the sidelines.

Unfortunately, Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia are set to miss most of the season, if not all.

Jacob Ramsey

Foot

On 6th October, The Athletic reported that Villa star Jacob Ramsey had ‘suffered a reoccurrence’ of the same metatarsal injury he sustained during the summer. The publication said he reaggravated the injury during Villa’s 6-1 thumping of Brighton & Hove Albion two weeks ago.

According to injury expert Dr Rajbal Brar, the Englishman could be back in action in around five weeks.

He told Villa News on October 6th: “The Villa medical staff will be very methodical with his return and return to action, especially if this wasn’t a contact-based reinjury.

“Emery and the rest of the coaches will probably see him back in training in around five weeks or so.”

It seems that Dr Brar’s timeline has been reasonably accurate, as while the young Villa star still isn’t quite ready for first-team action, Emery has confirmed that he will once again become available to play following the international break in mid-November.

Speaking ahead of the team’s game against AZ Alkmaar, the Spanish manager said: “Jacob Ramsey should be available after the international break.”

Villa’s first fixture back after the international break is an away game against Tottenham Hotspur, meaning Ramsey may make his return in north London, although the following game against Legia Warszawa might be a more realistic bet.

Tyrone Mings

Knee

Tyrone Mings suffered a significant knee injury on the opening day of the season against Newcastle United, and Villa quickly confirmed that he would require surgery to resolve the issue.

The defender released a statement soon after the incident, saying: “I’ll now give everything off the pitch to come back even better, whilst supporting the team.

“The applause, the messages & the medical support I received on the day was really appreciated.”

In the immediate aftermath of the injury, The Guardian reported that the Villa captain would miss ‘between seven and nine months of action’ following surgery, meaning that he will likely miss the entire season.

Emi Buendia

Knee

Aston Villa confirmed that Argentine midfielder Emi Buendia had suffered a ‘significant knee ligament injury’ in training a day before the season started.

He required surgery shortly after and posted to Instagram a month later to share his recovery progress with the fans, saying: “1 month since the operation. A month of many sensations, a month with pain, with a lot of effort, with hard days and others that were better, days of nostalgia for being back but being more patient than ever, days of great joy with the strength that my beautiful family, and above all a month with a lot of learning.

“With more desire to continue working to be back in the best way. Thank you very much to all the people of @avfcofficial for the support and daily love. And special thanks to my family, always close, always supporting and always giving affection and love. And to you @greengagew, Thiago and Gio, thank you for always being my driving force, I LOVE YOU.

“There is less left to return.”

However, as optimistic as his statement is, Emery was much more realistic when he revealed the extent of the injury, telling the BBC: “It’s a six, seven, or eight-month injury.”

Tim Iroegbunam

Back

It was revealed by Iroegbunam himself back in May that he had undergone surgery upon his return from a loan move to Queens Park Rangers last season.

The operation was to help with a back problem he had sustained whilst in London, and after a long summer of recovery, he finally made an appearance for the Under-21s as they lost to Charlton Athletic.

He didn’t feature for the full 90, but Emery told BirminghamLive: “Tim is coming back and training with us.”

At the time of publication, the outlet believed he could have potentially returned for the team’s game against West Ham United, but that didn’t happen, and he has yet to play a competitive match since his cameo against Charlton.

The youngster will likely remain out of contention for a little while longer as the club have said nothing about a potential return since Emery’s comments on his training.

Alex Moreno

Hamstring

Alex Moreno hasn’t played a game for the club since the 1-1 draw away to Liverpool last season thanks to a hamstring injury, and despite making it onto the bench at points this season, he hasn’t been fit enough to play.

He was once again made it onto the bench for the Villans game against Nottingham Forest on the weekend, but as we have grown accustomed to recently, he wasn’t given a run out during the match.

However, there is good news, as during his press conference ahead of the game with AZ Alkmaar, Unai Emery revealed that it won’t be long until we see the Spanish full-back again: “Alex Moreno is close to playing again because he is feeling very well.”

While that information is quite short on specifics, the fact that he was in the squad on the weekend points to a possible appearance this weekend, as the Conference League tie might come just a little too soon.

Latest Aston Villa suspension news

In good news for Villa, they do not have any players currently suspended in the Premier League.

However, the threshold for a ban within the first 19 games of the season is five yellow cards, and there are currently three Claret and Blue players on four yellow cards, so they must still be careful.

They will miss one league match if they pick up one more yellow before the 20th game.

So, who are the two players walking a tightrope?

Lucas Digne

Lucas Digne has been an essential pillar in Unai Emery’s backline so far this season, with the Spaniard starting the rapid full-back in 11 Premier League games so far.

The Frenchman has already picked up two assists in the competition, averaged a passing accuracy of 81.9% and averaged a match rating of 6.99, per WhoScored.

With Emery’s commitment to attacking football, he can’t afford to lose Digne, and so it’ll be interesting to see how he copes with this added pressure for the next few months.

Douglas Luiz

Like his French teammate, the all-action Douglas Luiz has become an instrumental cog in the Aston Villa machine.

The club might have spent millions of pounds on new players over the summer, but the Brazilian has given the boss no reason to drop him.

He has 11 Premier League games so far this season, scored five goals, provided one assist, maintained a passing accuracy of 88.7%, won two Player of the Match awards and averaged a match rating of 7.18, per WhoScored.

If he gets another yellow card within the next ten games, he’ll be a massive miss for his team and boss.

Boubacar Kamara

Defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara is the latest man to join the list of Villa players on four yellow cards this season.

Just like his fellow at-risk players, the Frenchman has been an instrumental figure in Emery’s team this season and has started all 11 Premier League games.

In those 11 starts, he has maintained a passing accuracy of 90.1%, won 09 aerial duels a game and averaged a match rating of 6.82, per WhoScored.