Aston Villa suffer blow with key man set to miss more time

The Belgium international midfielder has not featured since being forced off midway through a 0-0 draw at Everton on September 13.

While the issue was initially not thought to be too serious, Tielemans has suffered a setback in his recovery and is now unlikely to return until November at the earliest.

The news will come as huge frustration to Villa boss Unai Emery, who has seen his midfield hit by several injuries during the opening two months of the season.

Amadou Onana made his first appearance since August as a late substitute in last weekend’s 2-1 win over Burnley, while Ross Barkley got his first outing of the campaign after dealing with injury and personal issues.

Villa were also without Boubacar Kamara for around a month after he sustained a hamstring injury in August.

Tielemans’ absence is arguably the most significant, with the 28-year-old having entered this season off the back of one of the best campaigns of his career.

The only player to start all of Villa’s Premier League and Champions League matches, before injury ruled him out of the season’s final weeks, he claimed both the players’ and supporters’ player of the year awards.

Villa, who have won their last four matches in all competitions, will see their improvement tested after the international break with games against Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool next on the agenda.