Aston Villa were without defender Neil Taylor for their clash against Reading on Saturday.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce
Steve Bruce has explained that a groin injury was the reason that Neil Taylor missed Aston Villa’s clash with Reading on Saturday, and admitted that Monday’s game against Fulham will probably come too soon for the Welshman, the Birmingham Mail reports.
Taylor has done well since arriving at Villa Park during the January transfer window, and was an important part of the team that had won seven of their previous nine – keeping clean sheets in every victory along the way – before the Royals visited.
However, he missed out, leaving Amavi to fill in at left-back. And after explaining why he was on the sidelines, Bruce suggested that he is unlikely to return for Monday, though he is yet to know for certain.
“Neil hurt his groin on Thursday, we thought he was going to be all right. Probably Monday’s too quick for him,” he said, as reported by the Mail.
“We’ll look at him to see where he’s at.”
Bristol City’s Aaron Wilbraham and Aston Villa’s Neil Taylor in action
Taylor was certainly missed against the promotion chasers, as Reading claimed a 3-1 win in a game where Amavi really struggled to cope with the attacking threat posed by Jaap Stam’s men.
And while promotion is now mathematically out of the question for this season – though, in reality, it has been off the table for a long time – Bruce will be hoping that Taylor can return as quickly as possible to help the side build plenty of momentum heading into next season.
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