Matteo Ruggeri suffered a hamstring injury in Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw with Brentford on Saturday, leaving his availability in doubt for upcoming matches in both the Premier League and Champions League.
Ruggeri played the first half against Brentford but pulled up near the end of the first 45 minutes after dribbling past an opponent and playing in Nicolas Jackson down the left wing. He hobbled off down the tunnel his gesture towards Villa staff implied he was unsure if he could continue.
The Italian was substituted at half-time, but with Ian Maatsen out injured himself, Aaron Wan-Bissaka – who is a right-back by trade – had to fill in on the left side.
It remains to be seen how severe the injury is, and Ruggeri is set to be checked over on Sunday to determine the extent of the hamstring issue.
If the 24-year-old does miss time, Villa could be without a senior left-back for an important and busy schedule.
Maatsen suffered an ankle injury against Nottingham Forest on 12th September, which was reported at the time to keep him out for between six and eight weeks. It has been four weeks since that injury, meaning he is still likely to be two weeks away even in a best case scenario.
Wan-Bissaka will likely continue filling in at left-back, and the good news is he at least did a solid job against Brentford. He was given a match rating of 6.48 by WhoScored, which is the same as Ruggeri.
If they were to suffer an injury to either Wan-Bissaka or Matty Cash, it would cause further issues as they would be down to only one senior full-back.
Beyond Wan-Bissaka, Pau Torres could perhaps play there. Alternatively, youth team players Rodrigo Fortes or Teddie Bloomfield – who both featured in Villa’s recent friendly versus Sevilla – could be drafted in.
Villa fans are used to seeing multiple injuries at one position, as it is becoming an unfortunate recurrence. Last season, Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara and John McGinn were all out at the same time, which coincided with a dip in form.
Torres and Tyrone Mings were also both injured at the same time for a stretch last season, with Victor Lindelof having to play on his unfavoured left side at centre-back as a result.
With Villa playing twice a week for the rest of the month, they will be anxious to find out the severity of Ruggeri’s injury and get him or Maatsen back as quickly as possible.
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