We’re delighted to welcome injury expert Dr Rajpal Brar as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the injury situation at Aston Villa...
Aston Villa midfielder Tim Iroegbunam to miss the game against West Ham on 22 October in the Premier League, according to Dr Rajpal Brar.
Unai Emery issued a positive update on the 20-year-old at the end of September but he does seem to be some way away from returning to action.
The Spaniard revealed that the Englishman had returned to Bodymoor Heath and was training with the first team.
Speaking about his setback, Dr Brar, a doctor in physical therapy and a sports scientist, told Villa News:
“Sounds quite close since he’s now back with the first team.
“The physios will see how he responds and then go from there.
“He might be missing the coming games surely but these are positive signs with his return for the under-21s.
“He appeared to have suffered a setback, whether in the injured area or somewhere else, or his rehabilitation just took longer than anticipated.“
Iroegbunam looked like he would be a bench player this season as he impressed in pre-season but then picked up an injury against Walsall.
Since then, he’s been out of action, but the good news is that he did make his return to football when he played for the under-21s recently.
On Friday, 6 October, he was named in the starting eleven to take on Hull City and the Villans won the game 1-0.
He played 60 minutes for the under-21s and that’s a good sign that he’s closing in on his first-team return.
