Ollie Watkins injury: Unai Emery confirms Aston Villa latest amid Ezri Konsa update | OneFootball

Ollie Watkins injury: Unai Emery confirms Aston Villa latest amid Ezri Konsa update | OneFootball

Icon: Evening Standard

Evening Standard

·14 September 2024

Ollie Watkins injury: Unai Emery confirms Aston Villa latest amid Ezri Konsa update

Article image:Ollie Watkins injury: Unai Emery confirms Aston Villa latest amid Ezri Konsa update

Striker withdrew from England duty while Konsa came off injured

Unai Emery has confirmed both Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa will be fit for Aston Villa’s clash with Everton.


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Watkins withdrew from international duty with England due to injury but is set to return for the visit of the Toffees on Saturday.

The 28-year-old scored a memorable winner in England’s 2-1 semi-final win over the Netherlands at Euro 2024, but has been struggling for fitness so far this season.

"He is progressing, getting better, feeling better and is in the squad,” Emery said. “For tomorrow, he will be available to play."

Emery added that Konsa - who came off in the second half of England’s 2-0 win over Finland on Tuesday - would also be available.

“The players coming back after playing with their national team, they are in the squad and we don’t have big issues,” he said.

Article image:Ollie Watkins injury: Unai Emery confirms Aston Villa latest amid Ezri Konsa update

Ezri Konsa came off during England’s win over Finland

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Emery and Villa are facing up to a busy period of six games in 19 days, including the start of their Champions League campaign.

"We have one year with this experience and we were playing more or less similar matches,” Emery said. “We are expecting to play minimum until January, it depends if we progress in the Champions League and even the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup. Hopefully we can play more matches.

"Of course it is difficult to manage it with a lot of matches. The Champions League starts next week but we have experience. Last season was very interesting, even with a lot of injuries. This year we have started with less injured players.

"Last year we started with two big leg injuries from Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia and hopefully this year we can keep the same process we are doing with less relevant injuries for a long time. I will manage the matches, trying to focus each match with the players we have available and 100% to play."

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