A rarely-seen Aston Villa player is set to make his second start of 2024 against Olympiacos on Thursday evening.
Villa’s Europa Conference League campaign continues in earnest with the dust still to settle from their dramatic penalty shootout victory over Lille.
The Greek giants also endured a frenetic quatre final clash against Fenerbahce, winning a shootout after drawing 3-3 aggregate.
Unai Emery is having to deal with several injuries heading into the midweek clash, with eight players potentially missing. Emi Buendia, Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey, Alex Moreno and Nicolo Zaniolo are all out.
And two further concerns have now emerged after the weekend draw with Chelsea.
Aston Villa player set for second 2024 start against Olympiacos
Emi Martinez and Youri Tielemans were forced off on Saturday evening. According to The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell, the Belgian is likely to miss the next two matches.
Martinez’s absence – due to suspension – could now open the door for Robin Olsen to make only his second start in 2024.
The Swede is now poised to make his first start since Villa’s 4-1 loss to Manchester City.
Unai Emery confident Aston Villa’s fringe players can step up
Despite the injury issues, Emery appears confident in his squad’s ability to step up.
The Villa boss said: “If Tielemans and Martinez are unavailable for one week, two weeks, three weeks, we have to accept it, and in every situation, we are passing for the season, we are reacting.
“We are giving chances to other players to help us. It’s the moment for other players.”
It’s not like Emery hasn’t had to deal with injury issues throughout the season. He’s dealt with an unprecedented number of injured players and has managed to steer Villa into a commanding league position.
“We are playing now a semi-final in Europe,” he added. “We have to enjoy it. We have to be motivated with our supporters.
“Our objective is to beat them. Then we play Brighton on Sunday and it is amazing because we are on this run to get fourth place.”
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