Former Aston Villa defender Alan Hutton admits Ross Barkley will be a “massive loss” for them in this weekend’s derby against the Wolves.
For Saturday’s early kick-off at Molineux, the popular midfielder remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Barkley brought a new dimension to Villa’s midfield, arriving on loan from Chelsea in September, and his link-up play with Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins helped Dean Smith’s side secure crucial wins.
Villa had an extra week to consider Barkley after Friday’s game against Newcastle being postponed but the 27-year-old isn’t ready to return to action yet.
Smith confirmed, “His recovery is going well so hopefully he will be back, not for the Wolves game, but some time just after that. We don’t have to push him so quickly, that’s for sure. With the Newcastle game postponed (due to Covid-19) it’s one less game for him to miss. One that Villa need to get back to winning ways as well and obviously Wolves will want to do the same so it’ll be a good encounter but it’s a massive loss, Ross Barkley. I think we’ve seen in the start to the season that he’s had, he’s been instrumental in a lot of the good things that Villa do. To miss him in the last couple of weeks has been disappointing but you can’t rush a hamstring injury, you need to wait until it’s right or you’ll miss him for six to eight weeks so I think he’s doing the right thing with him.”
