Aston Villa winger Bertrand Traore has suffered a fresh hamstring injury that will keep him out of this afternoon’s meeting with Newcastle United, Ashley Preece reports.
The Lowdown: AFCON duty
Traore, who has started just one Premier League game all season due to injury, returned to the Midlands from the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this month.
Prediction for this afternoon?
Newcastle win
Draw
Villa win
The 26-year-old helped Burkina Faso to the semi-finals of the tournament, scoring once and registering two assists as his country finished fourth.
He played 437 minutes of action in five fixtures, captaining his country in four of those, however, he won’t be available for Steven Gerrard at St James’ Park later this afternoon.
The Latest: New injury
Villa may well be without Emiliano Buendia as well against Eddie Howe’s side after he suffered a hip problem against Leeds and has been declared a doubt.
Villa correspondent Preece said this regarding Traore after the update on Buendia, with Gerrard ‘frustrated’ at ‘another’ issue for the winger.
“Bertrand Traore picks up another injury which has left Steven Gerrard ‘frustrated’.”
The Verdict: Not ideal
With Buendia possibly missing out, it would’ve been nice to have had Traore back in the travelling squad as a potential replacement.
However, that won’t be the case, with Traore set to be sidelined for a couple of weeks. Ollie Watkins could be an option for Gerrard out wide this afternoon in place of Buendia and Traore, which may allow Danny Ings to receive a rare start.
The club decided to loan out Trezeguet and Anwar El Ghazi in the winter window, and if Traore continues to be out through injury, Gerrard may be left to rue that decision.
In other news: Villa now want midfield ‘monster’ for free as Lange plots revenge on Tottenham after Bentancur.
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