Aston Villa will suffer from the potential loss of Matty Cash to injury, Pete O'Rourke has told GiveMeSport.

The lowdown

The right-back was forced off just 27 minutes into Villa's draw with Manchester City last weekend, and manager Steven Gerrard said after the game that the Poland defender had sustained a hamstring problem and would be sent to have a scan to determine its severity.

Ashley Young seems to be viewed as the back-up for Cash, having come on in his place last weekend.

The latest

Speaking to GiveMeSport, O'Rourke said that the 25-year-old is a big player for Villa and fears that they would noticeably miss him at both ends of the pitch if he is out for a sustained period of time.

The journalist said: “It would be a blow to lose someone like Cash who’s been a key part to that Villa backline for a couple of seasons.

“He’s good defensively, but also very good going forward, so they would missing his attacking input if he is sidelined.”

The verdict

Gerrard clearly has a great deal of faith in Cash, having picked him for every single Premier League game so far this season.

The Poland right-back is a very active defender, recording high volumes of interceptions, blocks and clearances, while he also ranks in the 80th percentile among positional peers for shots and the 86th for touches in the attacking penalty area (via FBRef).

Villa's full-backs Cash and Lucas Digne are perhaps the team's foremost playmakers, topping the charts for passes into the penalty area. This is what O'Rourke means when he talks about the 25-year-old's ability to impact the game in both directions.

Villa could also miss his presence on the training pitch, based on these comments from the manager: “He’s been fantastic to work with, I love his energy, I love his character and his personality. He brings a lot to the group on a daily basis.”