A handful of Villa players are facing late fitness tests ahead of Sunday afternoon’s match at Villa Park.
Aston Villa new boy Albert Adomah is an injury doubt for Sunday’s clash with Nottingham Forest, manager Roberto Di Matteo has revealed at his pre-match press conference.
The Ghana international winger had been hoping to make his claret and blue debut on the afternoon following last week’s move from Middlesbrough, but his status for the match is now up in the air due to an undisclosed issue.
He is not the only Villa player who could be sidelined for Sunday’s game either, as several other members of the first-team squad are also facing late fitness tests ahead of Forest’s visit.
Jack Grealish may be unavailable after picking up a knee injury on England Under-21 duty, while Mile Jedinak is dealing with a knock that forced him to sit out Australia’s 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates earlier this week.
Aly Cissokho could be absent too after suffering a hamstring strain in last month’s 3-1 loss at Bristol City, while Rudy Gestede [hamstring] and Aaron Tshibola [groin] are also doubts going into this weekend.
Speaking first about Adomah at his press conference, Di Matteo told reporters: “He’s part of the group that have a few issues, so we’ll have to wait until tomorrow. We have a couple of players with some small injuries so we’re going to wait until tomorrow to make a final decision on it.”
On whether he was concerned about the number of potential absentees, the Italian continued: “No, I’m not because we have only short-term injuries which will be resolved if not this Sunday then probably before the next game. It’s nothing serious but for a few of them Sunday will be a bit too early.
“It’s been good to train for almost 10 days with this group. We also followed the players on international duty and got everyone back yesterday, so it’s good to have the whole group back together and preparing for Sunday.”
Adomah may not ultimately make his Villa bow on Sunday afternoon, but there should be a place in the side for fellow newcomer Jonathan Kodjia.
The 26-year-old Ivorian forward, who joined the club from Bristol City last month for an initial £11 million that could rise to £15 million with add-ons, netted 19 goals in 45 Championship games last season to finish as the division’s fourth-highest scorer, but Di Matteo was hesitant to reveal whether he plans on using him more on the right wing or through the middle.
“I was always looking to improve our attacking options,” the Villa boss added on the additions of Kodjia and Adomah. “I think we were a little bit short there so this gives me the opportunity to have competition within the team and also to maybe vary the way we play sometimes.
“It gives me real options to change things around, whether it’s during a game or for a specific match.”
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