OPINION
On Friday morning, Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce delivered the news that fans have been waiting a long while to hear.
Bruce revealed that, after almost five months out, striker Jonathan Kodjia has returned to full fitness and will be part of the first-team squad to face Hull City on Saturday.
The Ivory Coast international had undergone a second bout of surgery on his ankle after initially being struck down at the end of last season, and there were fears he would miss the rest of the campaign.
However the 28-year-old seems to have recovered quickly and is now back in contention to play against the Tigers in a crucial Championship clash on Saturday.
And, while Villa fans have gone into meltdown on Twitter at the news and are surely hoping that Kodjia plays, Bruce must not be afraid to break their hearts on Saturday.
The worst thing to happen now would be for Kodjia to suffer yet another setback in his recovery, which would no doubt rule him out for the rest of the campaign, including the play-offs.
The Ivorian is a key player for the Villans, as shown by him finishing top scorer with 19 last season, and he must not be rushed back into action.
Those goals will be absolutely vital when the play-offs come around, provided Villa qualify, which is looking likely at this point.
A game against a team like Hull is not important enough for Bruce to risk playing Kodjia, and he must resist the temptation to bring his star man back on Saturday.
The Tigers are sitting in 18th and are a side that Villa could easily roll over without Kodjia, with players like Scott Hogan, Jack Grealish and Albert Adomah leading their attack.
Bruce must trust these players to get the job done, and in the process must break fans’ hearts by leaving Kodjia on the bench for now.