Yesterday was pretty brutal for Aston Villa, as no one really saw that result coming. The 4-1 loss included some injury, added to insult, in the form of No. 1 goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who had to be replaced by Robin Olsen at halftime.
“He was feeling yesterday a little bit of pain,” Villa manager Unai Emery said of Martinez. “He trained and today he felt good in the warm-up. ‘In the first half he told us he was feeling some pain so we decided to change him. I don’t [know the injury] exactly. We have to test him.”
FA Cup 5th Round FYIs
Aston Villa vs Cardiff City
Kickoff: Fri. Feb. 28, 8pm, Villa Park, Birmingham, UK
Aston Villa Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
Fun Fact: Cardiff City have not won at Villa Park, in any competition, since December 1954.
Aston Villa Team News
Not much is known about the severity of the situation, nor the specifics of the injury, but it’s pretty safe to say that he won’t be featuring this weekend against Cardiff City. As for Pau Torres, his ankle injury will most likely keep him out of this one, but likely not much longer than that, with Emery saying: “Pau is close to adding to us, maybe this week, maybe next week.”
And then finally, Ross Barkley (calf/shin/heel), Amadou Onana and Boubacar Kamara (both thigh/hamstring) could all return to action next weekend, but will miss out here.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.