Unai Emery hopes Tyrone Mings will be available for Aston Villa’s Champions League clash with Celtic tomorrow night-but insists he has alternative plans if the central half of England is excluded.
Mings fell from Villa’s tie with West Ham on Sunday with a knee problem and, although Emery said he was not a “major injury”, there are still doubts about whether he would be cleared to deal with wreaths.
The villa must win to have every chance to compress to the top eight of the league phase and secure an automatic qualification for the 16th round. If they do not, they will compete in the playoffs.
Villa’s defensive concerns
The recent sale of Diego Carlos and the injury to the Pau Torres ankle means that the villa does not have numbers in the center of defense and Emery is hopeful that Mings will pull.
UNAI’s update on Tyrone Mings: “It’s not a major injury, but every day it will be very important for how it could feel better or worse. We will train this afternoon and see how it feels.” pic.twitter.com/p5c9cnaom9
– Aston Villa (@avfcofficial) January 28 2025
He said: “We will see this afternoon and then we will decide how each player feels. We also have Lamare Bogarde in the team, he trains every day and competes very well.
“Sil (Swinkels) is another option because it is training with us, but we are thinking of letting him go for a loan. I think he will need more experience to get minutes.
“We have enough players to compete and feel confidence. For example, Lucas Digne is leftist and an experienced player. He may feel confident (playing in the center-back). First, if Tyrone Mings is available then he could play , but if not, Bogarde-who usually played in the middle section-sometimes trains as a center-back.
“We are now injured players, but this is something that every team has. We have an occasion where Diego Carlos wanted to leave and pushed us to let him go. I believe in the players we have in the team.”
McGinn is likely to start
John McGinn is suitable after appearing as a substitute against West Ham and is likely to return to the original XI.
Celtic is guaranteed a place in the playoffs and will reach Birmingham with a confident mood.
Emery added: “They have very experienced players, international players and are going to play here tomorrow to feel confident.
“The club is a famous club and players feel it is a team that will play in Europe, the Champions League.”
