Unai Emery rues cruel Aston Villa injury

Villa were 1-0 up and in control against the Hammers when Mings left the field in tears seven minutes before half-time, having sustained a heavy blow to his left knee in a challenge with Mohammed Kudus.

His exit left Ezri Konsa as the home side’s only senior centre-back and Emery, who watched the action from the stands as he served a one-match touchline ban, opted to bring on left-back Ian Maatsen and switch Lucas Digne to a more central position.

But Villa lost their way after the break and the patchwork backline could not prevent Emerson from netting a leveller 20 minutes from time.

West Ham then came closest to winning it when former Villa man Danny Ings drilled narrowly wide.

Emery said: “Of course Tyrone Mings was injured when we were more or less in control of the game, we struggled a little bit with our process.

“How we started the game was fantastic, how we were dominating, imposing our position on the field and creating chances. But after the injury to Tyrone it became more difficult.

“The second half we started trying to recover again our good positioning but we didn’t really feel comfortable like the first 20 minutes.

“When they scored we tried to get fresh legs on the pitch but it was not enough.

“Of course, at the end of the match we have to accept the result, it was fair. In the last action we came close to losing.”

Villa hope Mings' injury is not too serious but it leaves Emery, who last week saw Diego Carlos sold to Fenerbahce with Pau Torres already sidelined with a broken foot, facing a defensive crisis heading into Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Celtic.

Emery later explained his decision to play Digne as an emergency centre-back, rather than bring on young centre-back Lamare Bogarde.

He said: “Lamare Bogarde is helping us a lot, he can play as a midfielder and centre back right.

“But centre-back left, without a left foot to help in our build-up, I decided not for him.

“I decided to play Lucas because he has experience, he has a left foot and can try to play keeping the same structure we want.

“The result is fair. A point isn’t enough but keep going and try to prepare for the next match.”

On Mings’ injury, he added: “You have to accept the injured moments from different players but when they’re out for a long time it’s the worst. 

“I was a little bit upset because we have Pau injured and we didn’t yet replace Carlos and we’re playing the last month with two centre-backs.”