Unai Emery hopes that Tyrone Mings will be available in the Aston Villa match in the Champions League with Celtic tomorrow night-but he insists that he has alternative plans if half of England is excluded.
MINGS was zags from Villa's tie with West Ham on Sunday with a knee problem, and although Emery said it was not a “major injury”, there are still doubts about whether it will be cleared to face the hoops.
Villa must win any opportunity to pressure in the first eight stage of the league and secure the automatic qualification for a round of 16. If they do not, they will compete in the qualifiers.
Villa's defensive fears
The last sale of Diego Carlos and Bau Torres in the ankle means that a villa is less than the numbers in the defense center, and Emery hopes to wander.
UNAI update on Tyrone Mings: “It is not a big injury but every day it will be very important in how he feels better or worse. We will train this afternoon and we will see how he feels.” pic.twitter.com/p5c9cnaom9
Aston Villa (Avfcofficial) January 28, 2025
He said: “We will see this afternoon and then we will decide how every player feels. We have Lamare Bogard at the team as well, and he is training every day and competes well.
“Sil (Swinkels) is another option because it is training with us, but we are thinking about allowing him to leave on loan. I think he will need more experience to get minutes.
We have enough players to compete and feel confident. For example, Lucas Digne is placed on the left and is an experienced player. He can feel confident (playing in the middle). First, if Tyrone Mingss are available, he can play, but if not, Bogarde-which usually played in the midfield-sometimes trains as the central full-back. I am confident and believe in the team we have.
“We are now wounded, but this is something that has every team. We have a circumstance that Diego Carlos wanted to leave and prompted him to allow him to leave. I believe in the players we have in the team.”
McGinn is likely to start
John McChen is decent after appearing as an alternative to West Ham and is likely to return to the beginning of the eleventh.
Celtic guaranteed place in the qualifiers and will reach Birmingham in a confident mood.
“They have very experienced players and international players and will play tomorrow here they feel confident,” Emery added.
“The club is a prominent club and the players feel that they are a team playing in Europe, the Champions League.”