Aston Villa’s injury problems appear to be mounting after midfielder Joe Cole became the latest addition.
The former Chelsea and Liverpool man is expected to be out for around two weeks with a hamstring problem, which comes as a major headache for manager Paul Lambert. The December fixture list is the most hectic in the English schedule. Villa have matches against the likes of Manchester United and Sunderland coming up. It was only in the last few weeks that they showed renewed confidence. After suffering six consecutive losses, Villa are now unbeaten in the last five.
Even though this run includes only two victories, it has been more than enough to take them closer to the top half of the table. Cole may not be a first-team regular at Villa, but his presence will have allowed Lambert to rest some players and rotate them. This would have helped them get impressive results. As it is, the former Norwich City manager will have to do without Joe Cole until Christmas. The 33-year-old recently scored in the 1-1 draw with Burnley, but he has featured in only four matches this campaign. Injury problems and lack of fitness have made Cole unable to complete 90 minutes of action at least once this campaign.
“Joe has injured his hamstring. So I think it will be hopefully a couple of weeks, maybe. It’s not too bad. Hopefully he gets back quicker.Joe was excellent at Burnley but, to be fair, Carlos came on at Palace and was excellent for us. Joe’s misfortune gave Carlos that chance to get back in again.But Joe was fantastic against Burnley,” said Lambert. After managing a narrow 2-1 win over Leicester City, Aston Villa will be going into the away match against West Brom with a lot of confidence.