Aston Villa boss Smith confirms Wesley not fit to start v Everton
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has confirmed that striker Wesley won’t be fit to start against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
The Brazilian forward returned to action for the first in 16 months against West Brom last weekend, having sustained severe cruciate ligament damage against Burnley on New Year’s Day last year.
Villa travel to Merseyside on Friday as they seek to end their three-game winless run in the Premier League, where they’ll be without Jack Grealish, Morgan Sanson and Trezeguet.
Smith confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Wesley would be fit to travel, though he doesn’t yet have the minutes under his belt to start for the Villans.
As reported by Birmingham Live, Smith said: “It’s been great to see him over the last week or two looking like an Aston Villa player again rather than a recovering injured player.
“I’ve said before, he’s had probably one of the most significant injuries I’ve seen in a professional footballer.
“So the strength of character to come back from that, the personality, especially during a pandemic, when we can’t arrange the number of games you’d normally get for somebody to come back, has just shown his strength of character.
“He’s not ready for a start, he’s only played 45 minutes of football, really; he’s played a couple of Under-23 games and we’ve been building him up gradually.
“I’d just seen a gradual improvement in him in training and felt he could be ready to do 15 minutes for us at the end of the game (against West Brom).”
Crucial clash
Despite the fact that Aston Villa have been severely muted over the past few months without star man Grealish, the Midlands club won’t be easy pushovers, especially not defensively.
With Wesley not enough to start, Villa could arguably benefit more from bringing him off the bench later into the game, with his exuberance following his return combining with his power and physicality to damaging effect.
Michael Keane has been passed fit, with only Abdoulaye Doucoure and Jean-Philippe Gbamin not available, meaning Carlo Ancelotti has plenty of choice when selecting his centre-back options – which could prove to be an important decision.
Villa are quite the physical side, not just through the strength of Wesley and the pacey and powerful movement from Ollie Watkins, but also with the threat that Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings pose from set pieces.
Everton are closing in on qualifying for Europe, and this game is one that they simply cannot afford to lose.
In other Everton news, ‘fantastic’ Toffees ace makes future declaration that Everton fans will love.
Be sure to follow Goodison News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on Everton and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Campbell.