Dean Smith has told Birmingham Live that Aston Villa trio Leon Bailey, Bertrand Traore and Matty Cash have overcome injury issues in time for Friday’s Premier League trip to Arsenal.
The Villans travel to the Emirates Stadium seeking to claim a fourth-straight win over the Gunners. Smith’s side have won each of their encounters with Arsenal since Mikel Arteta took charge in December 2019. They have also not conceded a single goal to five scored.
Traore and Cash started Aston Villa’s last clash with Arsenal in February, with a goal from Ollie Watkins the difference. However, only Cash has been a regular part of Smith’s plans this season, with Traore playing just 53-minutes over four Premier League appearances.
Smith delivers Aston Villa injury update
Traore missed Aston Villa’s last match against rivals Wolves with a thigh injury. Summer signing Bailey also missed the Midlands derby with a thigh issue, while Cash exited after 79-minutes with a dead leg. But Smith has confirmed all three are available for Friday.
“Cash is okay, he’s got over his dead leg,” Smith said. “Leon Bailey and Bertrand Traore have both trained over the last couple of days and both will be available for the squad down at Arsenal. But we have to be aware that Bailey’s had a thigh injury for four-weeks, so we have to assess how much of a risk we take with him.
“We are building up their fitness, they will be in the squad, but we’ll have to assess where they are. They have both been out injured for a few weeks, so they are lacking minutes.
“As for Keinan Davis, he’s back training but he’ll probably get some minutes in the Under-23s game on Friday [evening]. Other than that, we’ve just got Trezeguet [out], who’s coming through his knee injury well.”
Should Bailey and Traore start against Arsenal?
Cash is a near-certain to start at Arsenal on Friday after the Aston Villa right-back overcame his slight injury niggle. The 24-year-old has opened all eight of the Villa Park natives’ league fixtures so far this season. While also playing the full 90-minutes on six occasions.
But Smith has to weigh up the risks of starting Bailey and Traore after the Aston Villa pair’s injuries. Bailey has only featured in three top-flight games and is yet to start after his £25m move from Bayer Leverkusen. While Traore is also yet to open a league clash.
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