(Reuters) – Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings, Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara are back training but unavailable for Wednesday’s Champions League game at home to Bayern Munich, manager Unai Emery said on Tuesday.
Midfielder Kamara was injured in February after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament while right back Cash suffered a hamstring injury during the side’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in August.
Villa will also be without their centre back Mings who has not featured since he sustained a serious knee injury during their defeat by Newcastle United on the opening day of last season and captain John McGinn who has been sidelined after picking up a hamstring injury last month.
“The injured players, I know it’s the worst for them. Every player wants to play in the Champions League and matches like this. We have to accept it,” Emery told reporters.
“I want the best players on the field tomorrow and I want to face their best players. I want to play with our best players, accepting that we have some players injured. We’re ready to compete.
“Matty is starting to train with us but for tomorrow, he is not going to be available. Kamara and Tyrone Mings are training but also not going to play tomorrow.”
Villa play their first home game in the new-look Champions League on Wednesday and Emery said they were “motivated and excited”, having last played in Europe’s top club competition 41 years ago.
“Hopefully we can play more times in the Champions League, but it’s the first match after a long time. It’s a new competition for us because before it was the European Cup,” the 52-year-old said.
“I want to play matches like this and I want to play consistently. In the Premier League, we are facing teams like them, favourites – Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal – that can win this competition this year.
“They are favourites with other teams like Bayern Munich.”
Villa forward Ollie Watkins said excitement was building ahead of Wednesday’s game.
“It’s been a long time since Champions League nights at Villa Park — everyone is excited and looking forward to it,” he said.
Villa and Bayern both won their opening games in this season’s competition, with teams competing in a changed format that features a 36-team league rather than four-team groups.
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
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