Aston Villa have suffered yet another injury to the full-back position, as Matty Cash was forced to exit Poland’s Nations League match against Romania on Saturday.
Cash took an elbow to the chin during Poland’s 2-1 defeat and was substituted with around 15 minutes to go. There is video from after the game of Cash telling Polish journalist Mateusz Borek that he suffered a concussion and looking very groggy.
The right-back will now miss Poland’s next game against Victor Lindelof’s Sweden on Tuesday, and whether he has recovered in time for Villa’s match versus Sunderland on Saturday remains to be seen.
John Townley of the Birmingham Mail reported Cash has left the Poland national team camp and will return to Bodymoor Heath.
Cash is clearly unhappy with the player who caused the injury by swinging an elbow back into his jaw. He posted a video of the incident on his X account on Sunday morning, along with the caption: “Nice one” and a thumbs up emoji.
Villa have sustained a number of injuries at full-back this season, with their three other senior options Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Ian Maatsen and Matteo Ruggeri all missing time with various issues.
Cash was suspended for Villa’s last league match against Manchester United due to picking up five yellow cards, leaving Taylor Harwood-Bellis to fill in out of position.
Wan-Bissaka, Villa’s other right-back was believed to be close to being able for that game as he works his way back from a hamstring injury he picked up in a 1-0 win at Newcastle in mid-October.
Although he was not ultimately able to play against Man United, he should in theory be in a better position to do so against Sunderland next weekend after having another two weeks to ramp up during the international break.
Cash’s injury is the second issue Villa could be sweating on ahead of their return to playing, after Johan Manzambi was forced to pull out of the Switzerland squad with a calf problem.
At this point the severity of it is unknown. The Swiss FA said Manzambi arrived at the national team camp carrying the injury, so it is likely something Villa were already aware of, and his withdrawal from the Switzerland squad may have been a precautionary measure.
Once Villa are back in action, they will play ten games across the Premier League and Champions League before the end of December in what will be a hectic schedule. They therefore cannot afford too many injuries threatening the squad depth they will need to rely on.
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