Unai Emery has revealed that four of his Aston Villa players will miss the FA Cup clash against Chelsea tomorrow night.
After beating Middlesbrough, Aston Villa progressed into the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in eight years.
Unai Emery has set his sights on going deep into every competition and would love to lead Villa to some much-needed silverware.
In their attempts to have a successful second half of the season, the Villans are aiming to do further business in this transfer window.
18-year-old right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic was the first to arrive through the door from Red Star Belgrade, although he will spend the remainder of the campaign at the Serbian giants.
Emery is also keen on luring Middlesbrough’s Morgan Rogers to Villa Park and after seeing two bids rejected, will make a final offer for the 21-year-old following their clash against Chelsea.
The biggest transfer story circulating Bodymoor Heath is the future of striker Jhon Duran, who is attracting interest from the Blues.
Reports claim that Mauricio Pochettino could make a late bid for him with a week remaining of the January window.
Duran started both of Villa’s domestic cup games this season, in the 1-0 defeat to Everton in the Carabao Cup and the 1-0 victory over Boro earlier this month, but he won’t play any part against the side chasing him tomorrow night.
Unai Emery supplies Aston Villa injury update ahead of Chelsea clash
Emery has confirmed that Duran will miss the FA Cup fixture through injury alongside some other notable Villa absentees.
Pau Torres remains sidelined with the same problem he’s had since the victory over Brentford and the Villa boss is closely monitoring his progress.
Meanwhile, Jacob Ramsey is still suffering from a hamstring injury but could return to action next week.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Spaniard said: “Jhon Duran is now injured, but I am happy with him. The last action against Everton he was injured. For the next weeks, he is not going to be available.
“Lucas Digne and Pau Torres are still injured. Lucas is close to starting with the group, maybe in one week. Pau is progressing well, he started training with us and is ready to play, but he stopped again and now we are being careful.
“Ramsey too, it is a hamstring at the beginning we were thinking three weeks, but he could be back next week if he progresses well. Maybe Tuesday, but for tomorrow maybe not.”
For Duran, picking up an injury is just another setback he is having to face. He would have likely played a part in this fixture and potentially shown Chelsea why they are interested in him.
Ultimately, though, Villa have a huge decision to make over his future and given Emery has said he’s happy with him, that points towards him staying.
Villa will want to progress past the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in nine years tomorrow night.
The last time they did that they reached the final and were thrashed by Arsenal 4-0.
