Senior Aston Villa duo Axel Tuanzebe and Jack Grealish are both looking like returning in mid to late February as Dean Smith issues an update on their injury recoveries, according to the Birmingham Mail.
The newspaper claim on their website that both the defender and midfielder, who have been ruled out of action with a foot and shin injury respectively, are in line to be back and available for the Villans towards the end of next month, with Grealish likely to be a week ahead of his teammate.
Smith has lifted the lid on the duo’s recovery efforts, stating that he hopes the midfield maestro will be back “sooner rather than later,” after working out in Dubai, while revealing the versatile centre back is at parent club Manchester United for this stage of the comeback, and will rejoin the group when he is ready.
Opinion
Good news for the Villans, but perhaps not as good as the fans would have hoped for. Grealish is a star performer in the middle of the park, linking up the attack with the supporting cast, and he has been sorely missed in his absence. The same applies to Tuanzebe, whose injury blow forced Smith’s hand and resulted in the recall of Tommy Elphick from Hull City. A February return is much better than what would have been expected for the defender, who was forced to go under the knife to fix his issue, while the middle of next month is hardly what the Villa Park faithful want to hear about Grealish. Still, these are the cards that they have been dealt and if they cannot find a way to overcome them then they were never suited for the promotion push in the first place. Here is hoping that their recoveries go without a hitch and that they can be back to boost their teammates sooner rather than later.