Aston Villa: Lucas Digne suffers suspected stress fracture of the ankle – report
Lucas Digne could be set to miss several weeks of the Aston Villa season after suffering a suspected stress fracture of his ankle, according to L’Equipe.
The French left-back was called up to the international squad as a late replacement for AC Milan defender Theo Hernandez, but suffered an injury almost immediately and has already been sent home.
According to the report [21 September], Digne was sent for tests and the initial diagnosis is a stress fracture of his right ankle.
That could see him miss “several weeks” of action and even mean he misses the World Cup between November and December, although this has not been confirmed.
It would be a huge blow for Aston Villa, who signed Digne from Everton in January for around £25m and he has been a regular starter for Steven Gerrard ever since.
Shocker
As if our luck with injuries couldn’t get any worse this season, Digne goes down after an international session he wasn’t even supposed to be in.
He was initially overlooked for the squad for whatever reason Didier Deschamps felt, but then called him up after an injury elsewhere and now it’s Villa who must suffer.
France will just call up another potential option for the position, but we must go without one of our best and most consistent performers in a position where we’re already short on numbers and quality.
Digne’s ability to get up and down the flank and put in tireless performances defensively while also offering plenty of quality going forward means he’s a sure-starter for Gerrard but we are now likely to find alternatives for the near future at least, if not longer.
We already lost Diego Carlos for the season after he ruptured his achilles just two games into his career at the club, while Boubacar Kamara picked up a knee injury against Southampton too that Gerrard has admitted to being “worried” about.
In other Aston Villa news, a former FIFA referee has given his verdict on the controversy surrounding the goal against Southampton