Aston Villa have suffered a morale-sapping and seemingly relentless succession of injuries in recent weeks, headlined by a serious knee issue for midfielder Boubacar Kamara. The midfielder, who was forced off in the 2-1 Premier League defeat to Manchester United last weekend, has become the third Villa player to sustain an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the space of a season after Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendia.
While Kamara's absence will weaken Unai Emery's side in midfield, Villa's issues are particularly acute at centre-back. With Mings already missing, Ezri Konsa is a week into a potential month-long absence with a knee sprain, and Diego Carlos could miss a stretch of games too after injuring his hamstring in training.
"Huge news" on Mings
In the circumstances, Villa fans will be encouraged by the latest Mings update. Fabrizio Romano reacted to some "huge news" on the club captain, who has made an "initial return to training".
On Mings' return, Emery has admitted that the Englishman will be out for the season, but he'll be pleased to see him making progress after his "recent problems with injured players" too.
Mings can give Villa dual boost after "staggering" progress
Mings would likely have been a key figure for Villa this season if he'd been fit. He was in the team for the first game of the season away to Newcastle United, when he sustained his injury, and he'd been virtually ever-present last term with 35 starts from 36 available matches. As you can see in the table below, only fellow centre-half Konsa played more minutes.
Rank
Player
Position
Mins
1
Ezri Konsa
Centre-back
3,322
2
Tyrone Mings
Centre-back
3,150
3
Emiliano Martinez
Goalkeeper
3,139
4
Ollie Watkins
Striker
3,127
5
Douglas Luiz
Midfielder
2,927
Mings is a doubly valuable asset for Emery. Primarily, he's a dominant centre-back and a specialist penalty-box defender, as he demonstrated by ranking in the top 10 for aerial duel success (71.85) and clearances (163) in the Premier League last season. But beyond that, he also plays an important role in Villa's build-up, having recorded the 10th-highest progressive carrying distance (4,556 yards) in the 22/23 campaign.
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Presenter and Villa supporter Dan Bardell says he's made "staggering" strides in his recovery, and while it's still likely to be a while yet before he's ready to be playing matches for Villa, Emery will all of a sudden be blessed with some pretty enviable depth at the heart of his backline when he gets all of his options back. For now, this can go down as the source of optimism Villa fans have needed all week.