Birmingham Live have given an injury update on Ross Barkley ahead of Aston Villa’s meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 12, claiming that he could be back in time for the trip to Molineux.
The 26-year-old has been out of action with a hamstring injury picked up in Villa’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion recently, which caused him to miss the defeat at West Ham United on Monday night.
Barkley was ruled out for three weeks at the time and would have missed Friday’s meeting with Newcastle United had the game not been postponed, but he now has more time to recover.
The England international has made nine appearances in all competitions since joining Villa on a season-long loan from Chelsea, scoring one goal and supplying one assist. Barkley lasted only five minutes against Brighton and had to be replaced by Bertrand Traore.
As per the Express and Star, Dean Smith called the 26-year-old “a loss” days ago as Villa don’t have a similar player who could replace him, so he could come straight back into the starting lineup when fit.
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Villa are currently 10th in the Premier League with 15 points from nine games, three places and two points adrift of Wolves ahead of their meeting in 10 days’ time.
Having lost four of their last five league games, the potential return of Barkley for the clash with their Midlands rivals would be most welcome for Smith, who has made clear his feelings on the Chelsea loanee.
In other news, Aston Villa could lose a key midfielder as Premier League rivals engage in succession planning.
