Aston Villa monitoring star ahead of Brighton clash

Unai Emery is hopeful Jacob Ramsey can make his Villa return in Monday’s Premier League match with Brighton.

Published 17 hours ago

Aston Villa's Jacob Ramsey celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Young Boys Bern and Aston Villa in Bern, Switzerland, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Peter Peter Schneider/Keystone via AP).

The midfielder has not played since suffering a hamstring injury in the 2-0 defeat at Liverpool on November 9 but has returned to training and will be assessed this weekend to determine whether he is ready to resume playing.

Villa head into the match looking to rebound from their 3-0 Boxing Day reverse at Newcastle.

Emery said: “He (Ramsey) is close to being in the squad to be available to play, maybe on Monday.

“We have Saturday and Sunday to prepare the match for Monday. The last training session he did normally with the team and hopefully he will be in the squad for Monday.”

Villa are currently due to be without striker Jhon Duran for the next three matches following his red card at Newcastle, though the club have appealed the decision in the hope of getting the suspension overturned.

Matty Cash is definitely out against the Seagulls after picking up his fifth booking of the season at St James’ Park. Morgan Rogers remains just one yellow card from a one-game ban with the ceiling for suspensions set to increase to 10 bookings after Monday night.