Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa started and helped England beat Finland 2-0 in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday night at Wembley.
Lee Carsley is in interim charge of England after Gareth Southgate’s exit this summer and he has brought a much-needed freshness to the team.
In two games over the past week – against the Republic of Ireland and Finland – he has rotated his starting XI, with Konsa watching on from the bench in Dublin, but then the Aston Villa man partnered Manchester City’s John Stones at the home of football.
All was going swimmingly well for the team and Konsa, with Harry Kane putting the team ahead just before the hour mark, but then Villa’s star centre-back went to ground after defending a one-v-one dual.
Villa return to the Champions League next week and they have some huge games coming up, so you can imagine fans and Unai Emery would have been worried by these pictures.
Konsa hobbled to the sidelines and came back onto the pitch to continue, before going off five minutes later with many worried about his injury status – Ollie Watkins returned to Villa last week.
Diego Carlos has picked up another injury, but is due back after the international break, whilst Tyrone Mings has just returned to training.
So, outside of Konsa and Pau Torres, Villa can’t afford to lose their men at the back, or else, it would spell trouble.
But thankfully, as Carsley shared in his post-match press conference, it seems as though Konsa is ‘okay’ and there isn’t anything to worry about.
Ezri Konsa injury
“Yes, I think he is (okay), yeah,” responded Carsley. “I have not had the chance yet to see him because I have been in the press, but he looked okay when I saw him.”
Huge games coming up for Aston Villa
Starting with Everton and also featuring Bayern Munich, these next few weeks are going to be a treat for the fans.
Emery needs everyone fit and that could be the case given the return of several players.
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As mentioned, Mings is back on the training pitch and so is midfielder Boubacar Kamara, with Emi Buendia yet to feature after his long-term injury.
Matty Cash and Leon Bailey are also expected to return after the break, as well as Carlos and Jaden Philogene Bidace, so as the games pile up, Emery will have lots of options to choose from.
