It's been a brutal stretch for Unai Emery and Aston Villa on the injury front. The first bit of bad news concerned Ezri Konsa, who was ruled out for up to a month after suffering a sprained knee in the 5-0 Premier League win over Sheffield United at the start of the month.
Then, in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United last weekend, Boubacar Kamara became the third Villa player this season to suffer an anterior cruciate ligament injury after Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings, likely ending his season.
With Jhon Duran out for a number of weeks too after injuring his hamstring, Emery's squad is becoming increasingly stretched as he looks to steer his side into next season's Champions League and prepares for this year's Europa Conference League knockout stages. Somehow, things have just taken another turn for the worse.
Carlos could join Konsa and Kamara on the sidelines
According to The Athletic, Diego Carlos has now dealt Emery a fresh blow after injuring his hamstring during a training session. It's unclear how much time Carlos will miss with the problem, but Villa have set-up an examination from a specialist to find out.
Reacting to the news on Twitter, Sky Sports presenter and Aston Villa fan Dan Bardell said the club's injury situation was now "beyond a joke" after Carlos became the latest addition to the absentee list.
Emery will have to reinstate Torres after Carlos blow
Carlos has become an increasingly important player for Villa of late, starting 10 of their last 12 Premier League matches and the past three in a row in all competitions. The fact he damaged his hamstring in training rather than in a match makes this one particularly galling too.
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In addition to his defensive contribution, Carlos has been vital to Villa's build-up play, averaging the highest progressive passing per 90 minutes of any player in the squad (520.1 yards). In that sense, then, he will be a dual miss if he's out for any sustained period.
Ezri Konsa
33
33
2,823
Pau Torres
23
20
1,830
Diego Carlos
25
18
1,656
Clement Lenglet
15
15
1,322
Calum Chambers
3
2
178
Tyrone Mings
1
1
31
Kortney Hause
0
0
0
Naturally, the big question is who will replace him in the side. Well, the good news on this front is that Pau Torres has just returned from an injury lay-off of his own, with Emery naming him on the bench for the past two fixtures.
While he may have preferred to ease the Spaniard back in, he now looks the overwhelming favourite to start alongside Lenglet against Fulham this weekend. The only other available option is Calum Chambers, who's made one appearance since September, because Emery elected to leave Kortney Hause out of his Premier League squad altogether.
