Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has confirmed that centre back Tommy Elphick suffered a suspected ankle injury against Derby County on Saturday.
On what was a phenomenal day for the club – Villa demolished Frank Lampard’s side to the tune of a 4-0 win – Elphick’s second half substitution due to injury was the only black mark.
Now, Smith has provided an update on the former Bournemouth man: “He’s got an ankle injury I believe. It didn’t look good,” he told the Birmingham Mail after the game.
“He looked like he went to stretch for the ball and went over on his ankle, so we’ll have that scanned in the next 24 hours,” the Villa chief finished.
OPINION
This is a real blow to Villa, make no mistake about it. Elphick has come a long way from the player who was exiled to Hull City by Steve Bruce last summer. Since his recall in January he has been one of Smith’s key players and his partnership with Tyrone Mings at the heart of the defence has been a real highlight in recent months. It would certainly be very disappointing for the Villans if Elphick were to miss any significant time due to this injury. The club already have centre halves James Chester and Axel Tuanzebe sidelined, so it’s not as if they are inundated with players at the position. Smith will really be hoping for positive news on the veteran defender, that’s for sure. As mentioned, this was the only real negative to emerge from a day when Villa looked as good as they have all season. They blew the Rams away and it’s just unfortunate that Elphick suffered this knock.