Keinan Davis missed Aston Villa’s 1-1 draw with Stoke City on Saturday due to a pelvic injury. Jonathan Kodjia was selected by Dean Smith to start alongside Tammy Abraham in attack, but the 21-year-old wasn’t named on the bench as cover and Smith explained why before the game.
The Villa manager told Birmingham Mail: “He has not trained this week because of a problem in his pelvis. It has been niggling away at him. He has played through it at times and then found he is in too much pain. It has been harder for Keinan to get the pitch time we would like. He has not been on the bench because of that.”
Davis has made only one appearance for Villa this season, coming off the bench against Swansea City in the FA Cup. He was handed just 18 minutes of playing time in early-January and hasn’t added to his tally ever since. The former England u20 international has made a total of 38 appearances in the first-team, but he’s struggled for fitness in 2018/19.
After Villa loaned out Rushian Hepburn-Murphy to Cambridge United and loaned out Scott Hogan to Sheffield United, Davis had a good chance of getting opportunities in the last few months of the season. A persistent pelvic injury threatens to ruin any hope, however. The striker must be suffering to have not trained all week so it’s hard to guess when he’ll be back in action.
Next up for Villa are Derby County on March 2. Davis has one week to recover in time to make the matchday squad, but Smith won’t rush him back for fear of aggravating the injury.
