Aston Villa forward Jonathan Kodjia ruled out after freak training ground injury
Villa have been dealt a blow after it emerged striker Jonathan Kodjia suffered a fractured cheekbone in a “freak” training ground accident.
Boss Dean Smith had already confirmed the Ivory Coast international was likely to miss Monday’s Premier League fixture with West Ham, following a clash of heads with midfielder Marvelous Nakamba.
But Kodjia is now set for a longer spell on the sidelines after tests revealed the injury to be more severe than first thought.
The 29-year-old has undergone surgery and is expected to miss between two to three weeks, leaving Wesley and Keinan Davis as Villa’s only fit centre-forwards.
Kodjia had just recovered from an ankle sprain suffered in the opening day 3-1 defeat to Tottenham and Smith said: “It was a training ground injury, he whacked heads with Marvelous in a non-competitive part of training.
“They’ve gone for a ball and collided, Marvelous’ head must be a little bit harder!
“We thought it was OK but they picked up a fracture at the hospital, he’s had an operation on that now so he’ll be out for the next two or three weeks.
“He’ll be back non-contact at first, and we’ve seen how you can wear masks, we’ll certainly be looking at that longer down the line.
“He’d had some bad luck, the first challenge he went in for at Tottenham after coming on, he got an ankle injury, he carried on, but from then on he was struggling.
“But he’s come back to fitness and the first thing he does is clash heads with Marvelous, ends up in hospital and unfortunately needs an operation.”
