Tyrone Mings shares how he truly felt after making first Aston Villa appearance in 14 months 

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Aston Villa were delighted to see Tyrone Mings in some form of action recently, with the towering defender now explaining how he felt.

Mings suffered a horrific ACL injury in Aston Villa’s 5-1 defeat against Newcastle United in August 2023.

Since then, Unai Emery’s men have completed a full campaign, finishing fourth in the Premier League and qualifying for the Champions League.

Starting their European campaign with a bang by beating Young Boys and Bayern Munich, those triumphs have coincided with Mings returning to Aston Villa training alongside teammate Boubacar Kamara.

The 31-year-old has endured such a tough ride since being injured but he finally returned to some form of competitive action, turning out for Villa’s under-21s in a 3-2 defeat, ironically against Newcastle.

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Tyrone Mings on how he felt after making Aston Villa return

Since playing 45 minutes against the Magpies last Saturday, Mings has featured in a behind-closed-doors friendly vs Sheffield Wednesday, with Emery expecting Mings to be available after the international break.

Following his first outing in 14 months, the Englishman spoke about this milestone with former Premier League goalkeeper Ben Foster.

Mings said he felt ‘absolutely fine’ and if both centre-backs were injured before the Bayern game, he would have stepped up, although he concedes that he would have been ‘awful’.

“Yeah, probably. It’s definitely a milestone. I felt absolutely fine,” Mings said on Fozcast.

“I don’t feel any apprehension about going into a game. Like somebody asked me how I’m feeling the other day and I was saying if genuinely if both centre-backs got injured before the Bayern Munich game and the manager said Tyrone, I need you to play, I’ll say absolutely fine.

“I probably would have been awful, but it just shows I don’t have any apprehension about, like if you were to ask me to play in a game at the weekend against United, I’d feel fine to play. I’d just be unfit.”

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Tyrone Mings return is much-needed for Aston Villa

Mings is edging ever closer to making a first-team start for Villa since August 2023, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Ezri Konsa had to pull out of the England squad due to injury, and although he should be fine for the Fulham match a week on Saturday, it’s nice to have some added depth in defence.

Of course, Emery knows not to rush Mings back into the starting XI, hence why he’s building up his match fitness in the under-21s.

However, as the hectic fixture schedule heats up in November, the Spaniard could have his defensive stalwart fully available and that is a huge bonus.

For as good as Pau Torres and Konsa have been, Villa have missed the physical presence and the leadership that Mings provides when he’s on the pitch.

Hopefully, this is the last of the defender’s major setbacks, who will be eager to contribute towards the Villans success.