Unai Emery provides Matty Cash injury update and assesses Aston Villa set back

Villa are sweating on the fitness of Matty Cash after the defender was forced out of Sunday’s 4-1 defeat at Tottenham with a suspected calf injury.

Cash will be assessed after going off on the hour mark but at the very least is a major doubt for Wednesday’s Champions League tie at Club Brugge.

Emery is more hopeful over Morgan Rogers, who was taken off as a precaution in the second half having undergone treatment on the pitch.

“I think Morgan will be OK because he wanted to carry on playing,” said Emery. “But I decided no because after two kicks I had the opportunity to play with two strikers in Duran and Watkins. 

“Cash, he felt something in his calf, hopefully not a lot, but he felt it.”

Right-back Cash has already missed a month of the season with a hamstring injury and Emery will be hopeful he is not set for another extended period out.

Villa face Liverpool on Saturday night after their midweek trip to Belgium and will be aiming to bounce back after a hugely disappointing result at Tottenham.

Victory would have seen Villa climb up to third in the Premier League table and open up an eight-point gap over the hosts. Instead they were left to reflect on defeat after a second half collapse which saw Brennan Johnson and James Maddison score either side of a Dominic Solanke brace, after Rogers had earlier opened the scoring.

Barring the 5-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on the final day of last season, when Villa had already qualified for the Champions League, this was their heaviest defeat since losing 4-0 at home to Tottenham in March, an afternoon in which they also conceded four second half goals.

But Emery remained philosophical when assessing how the match played out.

“I am not really worried about it because it could happen with how the match was going, how they were in the best position after going in front,” he said. 

“It was a difficult moment for us. We had to try and do something. Even at 2-1, I was trying to plan something different, but it was very tight. 

“After the problem with Cash and the kick Morgan had, those players were very consistent in the level we needed. 

“After those necessary changes, the team was different. We have to try get different options with the players, even tactically like with two strikers. 

“We have to continue in our way, in different practice we are doing because we will need to get different tactical situations sometimes, getting the best out of the players.”