Aston Villa boss Dean Smith: Players need a ‘better solution’ for travel issues

Emi Buendia and Emi Martinez both missed last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at Chelsea after travelling for international duty with Argentina.

The pair, who have spent 10 days in green-list Croatia in order to avoid hotel quarantine, were not due back in the UK until this morning, with Smith set to make a late decision on their availability for tonight’s Premier League clash against Everton.

Smith felt Villa were left ‘between a rock and a hard place’ after Buendia and Martinez made clear their desire to travel.

And he now thinks it is down to the authorities to come up with a plan ahead of the next international break, already barely a fortnight away.

Argentina are due to play in Paraguay and also host Uruguay and Peru next month.

Smith said: “It’s not ideal for anyone and many a manager has spoken out about it.

“But we have to now pass that above us to the Premier League, the government, our CEO and the sporting director, along with the other 19 members of the league to organise a better solution.

“I said last time I think we were all between a rock and a hard place. It was a difficult situation. We feel the compromise we made was the best for all parties.”

Villa permitted Buendia and Martinez to travel after reaching an agreement for the players to feature in the first two of three scheduled World Cup qualifiers.

The second of those, in Brazil, was abandoned in farcical circumstances when health officials objected to them being in the country. Though both have been away from Villa for nearly three weeks Smith believes the club have made the best of what was a tough situation out of their control. It is understood both players have been visited by their families while in Croatia.

Asked whether they would be mentally ready to play against Everton, Smith replied: “I think they get used to it (the travelling). If you are playing European football you are probably nine months away from home, not just three weeks.

“It is part of football life that you have to deal with. We can’t forget (Croatia) is a green country, so their families could fly out to them as well. It doesn’t mean they have been out there on their own.

“It was a route the players themselves chose. We agreed with that and made sure we spoke to the relevant authorities, whether it be governments or Premier League to make sure it was the right thing to do. It is and it was and we’ll welcome them back to the club on Saturday.”