Early Aston Villa team news v Burnley: Jacob Ramsey ‘a big doubt’, two ruled out
Aston Villa will be without both Leon Bailey and Kortney Hause for Saturday’s (7 May) visit to Turf Moor to take on Burnley.
It will be the Villans’ first match with the Clarets all season after postponements pushed the return fixture at Villa Park all the way back to later this month.
Villa manager Steven Gerrard could also be without talented young midfielder Jacob Ramsey who he currently sees as “a big doubt as we stand,” as he said in his pre-match press conference, via Aston Villa’s Twitter account.
It’s not all bad news for the Villans though as French midfielder Morgan Sanson has returned to the training field after a period on the sidelines through injury.
Gerrard didn’t mention if he would be involved in Lancashire on Saturday but having only recently returned to the turf, it would be a risk to throw him straight into the action against such a physical side.
Options
It is a big shame for Gerrard to not have Bailey or Ramsey available in particular but he has more than enough options to cover for both of them.
John McGinn and Douglas Luiz are two midfielders almost certain to start with Ramsey having been the other in the trio for the majority of the season since the former England international took the reins in November.
Carney Chukwuemeka and Tim Iroegbunam are two younger options they could utilise as the latter made his first Premier League start against Norwich City last weekend.
Bailey is another with plenty of cover behind him with Emiliano Buendia able to play out wide and Ollie Watkins capable of moving to a wide area with Danny Ings coming in to lead the line.
Hause will be the least of Gerrard’s concerns with Tyrone Mings, Callum Chambers and Ezri Konsa three very competent centre-halves who should be able to cover his absence.
In other Aston Villa news, Conor Hourihane has made a surprising admission while out on loan in the Championship.