Aston Villa have reportedly been dealt a big injury blow ahead of their visit to West Ham next Monday in the Premier League.
Midfielder Ross Barkley, who joined the Villains on loan from Chelsea in the summer, has reportedly picked up a hamstring injury that could keep him out of action for their next two games, according to Express & Star.
Barkley lasted just five minutes of Villa’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend as Villa lost for a third time in their last four games having won four straight to kick off the season.
The on-loan Chelsea man has been a pivotal player for Dean Smith’s side, starting their last six matches and becoming a regular for Smith but it looks as though he will miss the games against the Hammers and the home game against Newcastle.
After the Brighton loss, Smith said of the injury: "I've just spoken to him.
"I'm gutted for him but he doesn't think it's as bad as they can be. Until we get it scanned we don't know. We'll be hopeful, I suppose."
Smith has a decision to make over who could replace the stricken Barkley for the game in east London next Monday night.
Bertrand Traore, a £19million capture from Lyon in the summer, came on for Barkely at Villa Park on Saturday. Conor Hourihane is the other alternative for the Villa boss after he made a late substitute appearance, seeing his first minutes since September.
For the Hammers, they will give Michail Antonio as much time as possible to prove his fitness ahead of the game. The striker, who has missed the last three matches with a hamstring problem of his own, was not risked for the win against Sheffield United on Sunday.
There were hopes that Antonio could make the bench at Bramall Lane but David Moyes decided caution was the best way to go with Antonio’s history of hamstring injuries.
The Hammers manager said: “We had hoped to get him on the bench but you need to be careful with hamstrings and we decided it wasn’t worth the risk.”
Andriy Yarmolenko is likely to miss out as well as he continues to self-isolate after testing positive for coronavirus while on international duty with Ukraine.
