Aston Villa host Nottingham Forest in the second-leg of their Europa League semi-final tie on Thursday, and Villans manager Unai Emery will be desperate to book a place in the final. Villa lost 1-0 in the first-leg at City Ground last week but the Midlands club have been handed a boost following a big injury to one of Forest’s most important players. The Reds secured a 3-1 win over Chelsea today to boost their survival chances in the Premier League, but Morgan Gibbs-White sustained a knock which is expected to rule him out of the Villa trip.
The midfielder was involved with a nasty clash of heads with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and was taken off. He has since taken to Instagram to provide an update on his injury and it is not looking good.
While Forest manager Vitor Pereira believes that Gibbs-White does not have a concussion, it is hard to see him get fit enough to face Villa with those stitches. If the Forest star was to enter the concussion protocol, his participation against the Villans would have been in doubt. The FA’s concussion guidelines state that the earliest a player can return to play is one week after the incident, providing that the exceptional criteria is met. The medical team will assess Gibbs-White but he is likely to be unavailable for selection on Thursday.
Forest could also be without Zach Abbott after he was also forced off with a head injury in the first-half against the Blues.