Aston Villa have finally received some positive news on the injury front, as Ezri Konsa and Jhon Duran returned to training however, the Englishman’s return may be concerning for some.
Aston Villa have 12 games to secure Champions League football next season, a sentence that not many would have said at the start of the season.
The progression seen at the club since Unai Emery’s arrival in October 2022 has continued this campaign, with the Villans now five points clear of Spurs and eight points clear of Manchester United.
It’s set to be an exciting end to the season, not just in the Premier League but in Europe also, as the Midlands club prepares for their two-legged blockbuster with Ajax in the Europa Conference League next month.
With the fixtures growing in both importance and frequency, Emery will be glad to see the return of two key players to his squad, with both Ezri Konsa and Jhon Duran returning to training after injury.
The return of Ezri Konsa will be a huge boost for Aston Villa
While Duran will offer Villa an additional layer of support in attack to allow for rotation, the reintroduction of Konsa comes at a perfect time for the squad, which is running scarily low on defenders.
Last weekend against Nottingham Forest, the Villans were forced to play 45 minutes with a centre-back pairing of Clement Lenglet and Calum Chambers, two individuals who were rumoured to exit in January.
The duo ensured that Villa got the win in front of their home fans however, with Konsa now close to returning to action, the manager will be delighted to be able to strengthen his backline at this stage of the season.
Why the return of Ezri Konsa could be bad news for Matty Cash
Everyone at Bodymoor Heath will be thrilled to see the Englishman return to training with the squad however, the plans that the manager has for him could throw a spanner in the works for Matty Cash.
Prior to Konsa’s injury, the Poland international was left out of the starting XI by Emery to be replaced by his teammate at right-back, with the boss enjoying seeing the natural centre-back deployed on the right flank.
Hailed as “perfect” by Emery for a performance earlier in the season, Cash’s displays as an attacking right-back seemed to have pleased the manager, but not enough to see him retain his place over Konsa.
Now that the defender is set to return, it will be interesting to see just how the Spaniard decides to play his cards, with the move he makes expected to be either good or bad news for Cash.
The £80k-a-week right-back has been impressive in his performances of late after a sticky patch midway through the campaign, with Emery’s decision of where to deploy Konsa critical to the rest of the former Nottingham Forest man’s season.
