“He Is A Warrior” – Gerrard Hopeful On Key Villa Man But It Could Raise A January Question For The Board

Although there were obvious negatives for Aston Villa in last weekend’s clash with Manchester United, coming back from a two goal deficit to take a very good point (and it could’ve been all three) is one of the major positives everyone in the fan base relished.

Jacob Ramsey, Lucas Digne, Phillipe Coutinho and Emi Buendia were also massive plusses for us, but one notable disappointment was the heavy injury sustained by centre half Ezri Konsa as the first half came to an end – and ultimately he didn’t reappear after the break, having been replaced by Kortney Hause for the remainder of the game.

Predictably, there was no booking for the challenge and Konsa’s reaction left plenty worried that he would now face a lengthy spell on the sidelines, however, head coach Steven Gerrard has optimistically told the Birmingham Mail that there is reason to hope he’ll return in time for this Saturday’s clash with managerless Everton.

“He’s had a real severe whack on his hip and in a real uncomfortable area right on the bone. He really tried his best to carry on, fair play to him, he is a warrior Ez, but unfortunately we gave him some medicine at half-time to try and help with the pain but, unfortunately, he couldn’t carry on. We’ve done the right thing to get some treatment into him and, hopefully, he pulls through for the next game.”

At worst it sounds like bruising here, so even if Konsa can’t make it back in time for the clash at Goodison Park, with a more lengthy break until we welcome Marcelo Bielsa and his Leeds United side to Villa Park (Feb 9), you’d have to think he’d be more than capable of recovering in that time period – unless we get the postponed games slotted into that gap, and if we expect that, we can expect us to dip into the transfer market again for some cover to help tide us through following the departure of Axel Tuanzebe.

The right player on the right deal and I think most fans would more than accept it, but in the alternative we can always promote Lamare Bogarde and Dom Revan up to the bench and take a closer look at them.