£130,000-a-week Aston Villa man now one of 5 stars ruled out vs Tottenham

As Aston Villa prepare to square off against Tottenham Hotspur in hope of advancing in the FA Cup, they’ll have to do so without as many as five players – including one key man.

Aston Villa injury news

Just like Newcastle United last season, Aston Villa’s squad depth has been put to the test in the face of added Champions League responsibility in the current campaign. Unlike the Magpies, however, those in the Midlands acted to welcome some much-needed reinforcements in the form of Donyell Malen, Marco Asensio, Andres Garcia, Marcus Rashford and Axel Disasi.

Those incomings didn’t arrive without any sacrifice though, with Jhon Duran funding those moves by sealing a big-money exit to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in one of the biggest moves of last month.

On paper, accepting such an offer made perfect sense but those at Villa Park are already set to face a dilemma in the forward’s absence following the latest injury news.

As confirmed by Unai Emery, Aston Villa are now set to be without Ollie Watkins against Spurs this weekend following the forward’s ill-timed injury. Left without a natural striker, the Spaniard could turn towards Malen or even hand a debut to Rashford in the leading role.

Emery revealed the news of Watkins’ injury and confirmed that Ross Barkley, Pau Torres, Matty Cash and Tyrone Mings will also miss out, telling reporters: “We are going to work tomorrow, but at the beginning, we have out, not available for Sunday, Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres, [Matty] Cash, Ross Barkley and Watkins.

“For [Watkins], each day is being important, how he is feeling, but for Sunday, I think he is not going to be available because today he didn’t train. Tomorrow, I think he is not going to train as well, because he will need more days to recover. Hopefully, for next week, he will be available.”

Aston Villa left short without “Amazing” Watkins

There was often frustration around Duran’s place on the Aston Villa bench in what handed Emery the ultimate luxury. Now that luxury is gone, however, the Spaniard would likely love to have that selection headache back amid Watkins’ ill-timed injury. Instantly forced to shoehorn players into the role, Villa must hope to get the best out of the likes of Rashford and Malen.

Rashford is a particularly interesting option. Ask many and the answer will be that he is best off the left-hand side rather than leading the line, but once again he may have little choice to do exactly that this weekend.

Emery will be well aware of just how big a miss Watkins is going to be too, having dubbed the Aston Vila star “amazing” earlier this season. Forced to cope without his £130k-a-week forward and Duran nonetheless, the Spaniard must hope to see his January arrivals instantly flourish.