Bertrand Traore is likely to miss Saturday’s meeting with Watford but hopes to return from injury when Aston Villa travel to Brighton & Hove Albion, according to Birmingham Live.
The Villans host the Hornets this weekend hoping to bounce back from defeat at Newcastle United. Steven Gerrard’s side have only won one of their last six Premier League fixtures to fall to 12th-place. They had broken into the top-half of the table over the festive period.
Traore has rarely been available amid Gerrard’s bid to turn the tide in Birmingham. The 26-year-old made his sixth outing and first start of the term in the Villans’ 2-1 loss at Brentford last month. He has not featured since after suffering an injury at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Traore developed a hamstring strain while representing Burkina Faso on route to a fourth-place finish at AFCON. And while Villa’s medical department believe he has only sustained a minor gripe, they are taking every caution with his return following a raft of prior problems.
The 62-cap winger suffered a hamstring issue early in the season that kept him out of Dean Smith’s plans. Traore also spent a lengthy period on the sidelines with a thigh injury he also sustained on international duty, during which the Villans sacked Smith and hired Gerrard.
Traore pushing to return to Aston Villa training
Traore is yet to return to training from his latest injury, but hopes to link up with his Aston Villa teammates ahead of their trip to Brighton next week – handing Gerrard a big boost.
Marvelous Nakamba is also on course with his recovery from the knee ligament damage he suffered in December. The Zimbabwe star’s expected three-to-four-month rehabilitation is going according to plan. But the midfielder remains some way shy of any return to action.
Gerrard frustration to dissipate with Traore return from injury
Traore returning to training in the coming days will allow Aston Villa boss Gerrard’s anger to dissipate. The £17m star – who Smith once called a ‘marvellous technician’ – returning from AFCON with an issue infuriated the England icon, who noted via Birmingham Live:
“Unfortunately, we’re going to lose Berto for a few weeks. He’s got a hamstring injury off the back of the AFCON, which I’m frustrated about.”
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