Aston Villa podcaster Neil Dunworth has been sharing his thoughts on Villa winger Bertrand Traore and the injury the attacker suffered during Villa’s 4-3 defeat to Southampton at the weekend.
This comes after Dunworth recently made an appearance on the latest episode of The Villa View Podcast where he reflected on Villa’s latest defeat.
On the topic of Traore, who started the match against Southampton but was taken off in the first half due to an injury, Dunworth had this to say on the matter.
He said: “I was actually looking forward to seeing the battle of the Bertrands [Traore and Ryan Bertrand] down that right-hand side, but it never really materialised because we didn’t get a lot of ball down there when Traore was on there.
“I’d love to know what happened, because it seemed really innocuous and that’s a bit worrying, because when you have a guy like that, that’s essentially being labelled as our auxiliary second striker in a pinch and he’s gone out of the game on a non-contact injury, you would be expecting we won’t see him for a couple of weeks.”
Villa signed Traore in the previous summer transfer window from Olympique Lyon for a fee of £16.56 million. Since then, the 25-year-old has made seven appearances for Villa across all competitions in which he has managed to score one goal.
After the Southampton match, Villa boss Dean Smith revealed that Traore felt something in his groin that forced him off the pitch but added that he doesn’t think the injury to Traore is serious.
Were you disappointed by Traore's injury against Southampton?
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TIF Thoughts on Neil Dunworth’s comments on Traore and his injury…
It’s nice to hear that Dunworth was excited about seeing Traore in action for Villa before his injury, this shows that he has high hopes that Traore can be a useful player for the Birmingham club this season.
It’s a shame that Traore was forced off the pitch in the first half against Southampton. However, it’s good to hear from Smith that he thinks the injury isn’t too serious.
Hopefully, Traore gets back to full match fitness as soon as possible so he can get back to helping Villa on the pitch alongside his teammates.