Bailey bitten by injury bug again
Timetable unknown for Reggae Boy’s return to Aston Villa
Published:Sunday | December 5, 2021 | 12:12 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
FOR THE third time in his first English Premier League (EPL) season, national midfielder Leon Bailey will spend another period in the treatment room.
The Aston Villa winger is set to miss the final games of the calendar year, starting with today’s clash against 10th-place Leicester City, because of a quad strain suffered in their 2-1 loss to Manchester City on Wednesday.
Aston Villa head coach, Steven Gerrard, confirmed Bailey’s absence in their pre-match press conference on Friday, with a return date unknown.
“Leon Bailey will be out for the foreseeable future. He’s had a scan on a quad muscle and there’s obviously some damage in there. That one will be certainly weeks so he’ll be missing pre-Christmas, and to say when he’ll return, it’s too early to say. But that’s a disappointing one for us,” Gerrard said.
Bailey’s injury further compounds the problems for Gerard, who is also awaiting the fitness results of full-back Matt Targett and striker Danny Ings.
It is the latest blow to what has been an injury-plagued start for the Jamaican, to life at the club since signing in August from Bayer Leverkusen. Bailey, 24, was sidelined for two games in August because of a hamstring injury and three games in September and October because of a quad strain suffered on September 18, when he scored his first EPL goal in the 3-0 win against Everton.
NINE APPEARANCES
He has only made nine appearances for Villa, scoring one goal and registering two assists.
His injury problems have also contributed to him not being available for the start of Jamaica’s World Cup qualifying campaign, missing the September and October windows. However, he returned for the November games against El Salvador and the United States, respectively, and has played in the last three EPL fixtures since returning from international duty, which included the Manchester City game.
If injury rules out Bailey for the rest of the month, the Reggae Boy would miss matches against Liverpool on December 11, Chelsea on Boxing Day (December 26) and against Leeds United (December 28) – the final match of the calendar year.