Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings is set to undergo a scan after sustaining an injury to his left knee during his side’s 1-1 draw with West Ham United on Sunday.
The 31-year-old collided with West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus in the first half and was immediately in discomfort, holding his left knee.
After undergoing some treatment, the England defender tried to continue but was unable to a few minutes later, being replaced by Ian Maatsen after 35 minutes. Mings shielded his face as he departed and was visibly emotional. He did, however, return to the bench during the second half after getting changed.
“The first test we did, I think it’s not an injury thinking for a long time,” said Emery in his post-match press conference. “But tomorrow we will test again better and will know how important is his injury. Hopefully not a lot and hopefully it’s positive.
“Tyrone Mings’s injury was when we were in control of the game and feeling comfortable. After, we struggled a little bit in our process.
“We didn’t feel again comfortable after the first 20 minutes. When they scored, we tried to get fresh legs but it was not enough. We have to accept this result as it was fair. Because of the last action, we were so close to losing.”
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Following the departure of Diego Carlos, Villa are short in central defence but are interested in signing Villarreal’s Juan Foyth, who has worked with Emery.
Mings’ injury led to Villa being forced to move left-back Lucas Digne into central defence for the remainder of the game against West Ham, while Ian Maatsen came on at left-back.
“I was a little upset because we are without Pau and we haven’t yet replaced Diego Carlos. Lamare Bogarde can play centre back on the right but playing on the left, with our build up, I decided for Lucas because he has experience, he has a left foot.”
Mings sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury to his right knee in August 2023 during Villa’s fixture away to Newcastle United. It took him 445 days to recover from the injury, returning from the injury in October 2024.
It was the second time he had suffered a significant knee injury in his career after sustaining a cruciate ligament injury in 2015 while playing for Bournemouth.
“With the left centre-back, it’s very important with Pau Torres,” added Emery, speaking to the BBC. “He can play with his left foot. Today we have another centre-back. I needed one left-footed player.
“We were winning 1-0 and started very well. To keep the result in 90 minutes without one more goal is always difficult. They created one or two chances so I think the result is fair.
“We started the second part of the season with two wins and two draws, we have not lost. We wanted to win today. We have to continue building and trying to learn.”
The draw with West Ham leaves Villa in eight in the Premier League. They are next in action against Celtic in the Champions League on Wednesday.
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(Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)
