Aston Villa dealt Ezri Konsa injury scare as Lee Carsley makes shock England change

Aston Villa dealt Ezri Konsa injury scare as Lee Carsley makes shock England change

Unai Emery has been dealt an injury scare during England’s clash against Greece. During the Three Lions’ crucial Nations League tie at the Athens Olympic Stadium on Thursday night, Lee Carsley substituted Ezri Konsa for Lewis Hall.

 

Shortly into the second half, the Aston Villa defender appeared to suffer a knock, limping from the field of play. The severity of the injury remains to be seen, though Carsley did share news of Konsa’s injury after the game.

Carsley said: “Ezri got a slight problem with his hip, so he will get a scan tomorrow. If there’s any kind of doubt he will go straight back to Aston Villa tomorrow. He was actually OK just then, in terms of walking around and he’s in a good place.”

 

Konsa enjoyed a great start to the game for England, completing all 44 of his attempted passes and winning both of his two ground duels. The 27-year-old defender picked up a knock while on international duty in September, but the Three Lions’ interim boss later revealed there was nothing to worry about.

“Yes, I think he is (okay), yeah,” said Carsley, who will step down as England head coach when Thomas Tuchel takes over in the new year. “I have not had the chance yet to see him because I have been in the press, but he looked okay when I saw him.”

 

Then, during Villa’s clash against Manchester United last month, Konsa came off injured, which raised questions about his fitness. Speaking to the BBC on Match of the Day about his knock, Emery said: “I don’t know, hopefully it’s not a lot.

 

“Hopefully he can rest in the international break. We can have some days off [in the international break] we can recover our energy and try to push in the next month.”

 

Emery was granted his wish and Konsa didn’t join the England squad at St George’s Park in October. Eager to give the Englishman ample time to recover, the Villa boss started Diego Carlos alongside Pau Torres instead in their 3-1 win against Fulham after the international break.