As Aston Villa look to make it five games without defeat in all competitions, they may be forced to do so without both Tyrone Mings and another one of Unai Emery‘s key men against Crystal Palace.
Aston Villa injury news
The Villans’ injury concerns have gone under the radar ever so slightly in recent weeks. At various points they’ve been without Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa and remain without Ross Barkley, Pau Torres and Amadou Onana. Emery has coped nonetheless, however, and watched on as his side came from behind to defeat Chelsea late on last time out.
With January arrivals Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio combining for both goals, Aston Villa’s recruitment has seemingly come good at the perfect time once again as they look to push on towards Champions League qualification.
As things stand, those in the Midlands sit just two points adrift of fourth-place Manchester City, albeit having played a game extra than the Blues. It’s certainly a tight battle, and one which could take another twist when they travel to face an in-form Crystal Palace this evening potentially without two key men.
As revealed by Emery, Aston Villa could now be without Morgan Rogers against Crystal Palace as well as Mings in what would be two frustrating injury blows for the Villans.
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Emery told reporters when quizzed on Rodgers’ availability after he limped off against Chelsea: “His wish is always to play even when he was telling me on Saturday he was good. He was telling me he could continue.
“He is important. The idea is to have substitutes performing well. One of them is Rogers. In case he is not available, we can use other players.”
Also asked about his defensive options, the Spaniard provided an update on Axel Disasi, Torres and Mings – telling reporters: “Axel Disasi can play tomorrow. Mings, we will see how he feels. Konsa feels good and Pau is close to adding to us, maybe this week or next week.”
“Fantastic” Rogers is growing in importance
The jury was still out on Rogers when he first arrived from Middlesbrough in January of 2024, but the midfielder has proved any doubters wrong ever since to become one of Emery’s most important players. A driving force behind everything good that this Aston Villa side do, it’s no surprise that the former Manchester City academy man has earned such high praise.
After watching the 22-year-old score a hat-trick in the Champions League against Celtic, former Aston Villa star Stiliyan Petrov told TNT Sports: “He looked like he is going to be a star. He could have scored another two.
“In the second half, Brendan Rodgers changed the tactics a little bit, he put two players to man mark Rogers, and he has just managed to adapt, to move to a different position and find space so he can score goals. He was absolutely fantastic.”
With 11 goals to his name in all competitions so far this season, Rogers’ absence would certainly deal Aston Villa a major blow if he fails to win the race to be fit ahead of his side’s trip to Selhurst Park.
