Aston Villa face a nervous wait to seek out out the extent of Ollie Watkins’ hamstring injury.
Boss Unai Emery confirmed that the England international was taken off at half-time within the 2-0 win over Wolves with an issue and can undergo tests on Sunday.
There is now a giant query mark over his appearance for Manchester City on Wednesday, and Villa shall be desperately hoping the injury will not be serious as they embark on a decisive run during which their aim shall be to qualify for the Champions League and go to Europa Conference League glory.
Their hopes of a top-four finish were boosted by victory over their Midlands rivals, with goals from Moussa Diaba and Ezri Konsa in each halves giving them a significant three points.
Emery said: “He felt something, more or less a hamstring, and he was telling us he could keep playing, but the doctor told us it was better not to risk playing and we decided to keep him.
“We’ll check him tomorrow and maybe it’s a hamstring, we hope it won’t be too much, but we’ll see.”
During the match, Emery said it was essential to get back to winning ways at home after recent defeats to Newcastle, Manchester United and Tottenham.
“It’s very important, these three points here at Villa Park were difficult, that’s why we played here many times against Newcastle, Manchester United and Tottenham, in different games, but in these games we couldn’t get the result,” added the Spaniard.
“But we’re consistent, we’re regaining confidence and our path.
“I believe a very powerful thing today was the victory. We were serious.
Wolves should have regretted that Rayan Ait-Nouri missed the goal with the rating at 0-0, after the Algeria international didn’t convert the scoreline when given time and space on the far post.
Boss Gary O’Neil said: “That’s the goal. I mean, 99 times out of 100 a Premier League match ends with a goal.
“He has loads of area to hit and he isn’t too removed from the goal, so it’s value backing him to attain.
Sometimes things don’t go your way and the goalkeeper makes a very good save. Rayan played two 90 minutes for Algeria this week and I assumed possibly he didn’t look as sharp as before and was somewhat drained.
“Honestly, the one thing that disenchanted me was the result. There were loads of positives when it comes to performance.
“Obviously we didn’t come here to lose, so it’s really disappointing that this happened. But for this performance I actually have no problem in any respect, if that is what the fellows put in and we’re like that, that shall be enough to win enough games and keep us moving into the precise direction.
Credit : www.independent.co.uk
