Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings hobbled off during his side’s match against Leicester City yesterday.
Mings pulled up during Villa’s game against Leicester City, but thought that he could carry on initially.
The England international tried to soldier on, but his decision proved costly.
With Mings still limping, Villa gave the ball away, and Leicester punished Smith’s side to score the opening goal.
Mings simply could not get back to challenge Jamie Vardy, who poked the ball into an empty net after rounding Tom Heaton.
And Smith admits that Mings took it upon himself to carry on, as he thought he only had cramp.
“I thought he pulled his hamstring straight away, that’s why I called Bjorn Engels,” Smith said.
“He’s never had a muscle injury before. The message I got from the medical staff was that he wanted to carry on. He felt it might’ve been cramp and not a muscle injury, so we carried on but, unfortunately, they scored.”
Villa will be desperate to see Mings recover from his current injury problem quickly, as he is so vital to their side.
Mings is the rock at the heart of Villa’s defence, and without him the claret and blues look a weaker team.
Villa’s defeat to Leicester has forced them down into the relegation zone in the Premier League table, but they do have a run of winnable games coming up.
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