Aston Villa star returns to ease major Unai Emery headache

Unai Emery claims Villa have the “solutions” to deal with their left-back shortage after Ian Maatsen made a timely return to training.

The 24-year-old is back working with the squad at Bodymoor Heath, though it is unclear whether he will be ready to feature in Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Viking.

Left-back has become something of a cursed position for Villa with boss Emery confirming on Tuesday summer signing Matteo Ruggeri is facing two months out with a hamstring injury sustained in the 2-2 draw with Brentford earlier this month.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who had been deputising in the position while Maatsen and Ruggeri were sidelined, then suffered a hamstring injury of his own in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Newcastle. The West Ham loanee could miss up to a month of action.

Tyrone Mings, who has not started at left-back in more than a decade, has been sounded out as a possible emergency replacement.

Maatsen’s swift recovery from an ankle injury sustained in last month’s defeat to Nottingham Forest is therefore a significant boost, with Villa in the middle of a hectic run of nine matches in 29 days.

Villa’s match-winner at Newcastle, Johan Manzambi, has been ruled out of Wednesday’s match with what Emery described as a “small injury”.

Ruggeri’s injury has seen Taylor Harwood-Bellis added to Villa’s Champions League squad, a move permitted under Uefa rules if a player is due to miss more than 60 days.

“We have enough players. It is not an excuse,” said Emery. “Tomorrow we will find a solution in case we need to. We need to get our performance collectively and individually in each position.

“We are accepting all the injuries we had before. So many players we had injured in our process and we still have some, like Onana for a long time, like Matteo, which is more or less two months.

“He is coming back and joining us, Ian Maatsen. He joined us and he is training with us this week.”