Aston Villa team news v Tottenham – Four out as Emery shares Watkins update
Unai Emery will be without three Aston Villa players for their FA Cup clash against Tottenham on Sunday.
The Villans are preparing to welcome Ange Postecoglou’s side to Villa Park on 9 February with a view to progressing to the fifth round of the cup.
The Spanish head coach will also be keen to right the wrongs of the 2-0 defeat against Wolves last time out where there were very few positives to take.
With that being said, Villa will be hopeful of securing a positive result in B6 but look set to be without Watkins for the clash, which is a blow.
Unai Emery confirms four absentees v Tottenham
There have been plenty of injury concerns to deal with in recent weeks for the Villans but things look set to get worse before they get better.
A fresh blow was felt in the Midlands derby as the England international went off at half time at Molineux and looks set to miss out in the FA Cup fourth round.
The forward will be one of four missing stars for the Villans for the clash against the Lilywhites, confirmed by Emery in his press conference on 7 February, transcribed by John Townley.
He said: “We are going to work tomorrow, but at the beginning, we have out Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres, Cash, Ross Barkley and Watkins. We are working without a game in the week and with the new players to practice and prepare for Sunday.
“For him [Watkins], each day is important with how he is feeling. Today he didn’t train and tomorrow he is not going to train as well. Hopefully, for the next week, he will be available.”
Aston Villa must turn up against Tottenham in the FA Cup
There have been plenty of frustrating moments in various cup competitions over the years in B6.
Another one arose earlier in the campaign when Crystal Palace rocked up to Villa Park and secured an easy win to progress in the League Cup.
With that being said, Emery needs to get the best out of his side in the FA Cup to give supporters something to cheer about and the prospect of winning some silverware.
The Villa fans have gone 29 years without winning a domestic cup and if anyone can change that fate it is the Spanish manager who has won wherever he has been.
As a result, he needs to ignore the players who are missing from his squad right now and focus on who is available and get the best out of them.
Having someone like Marcus Rashford to add to your squad can only be a plus, giving no excuses for a poor performance against Spurs.