Kortney Hause has missed Aston Villa’s last four games due to injury and Dean Smith revealed in Monday’s pre-match press conference that his return is still four to six weeks away after undergoing a scan.
Ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League meeting with West Ham, the manger stated: “Kortney has had his scan and he’s got a problem with his foot, he’s going to be out for at least 4-6 weeks.”
The 25-year-old has made seven appearances in all competitions this season, but he picked up the foot injury in mid-January and was initially ruled out until February. It looks like Hause won’t be back until March at the earliest, however, after Smith’s latest update.
It’s a shame as the centre-back impressed while deputising for the injured Ezri Konsa in December, helping to keep three clean sheets in four games, but he hasn’t featured for five weeks.
Smith reiterated as much, adding: “It was a bit of a blow (to lose Hause) because he came in the team, played four games and was excellent. It’s disappointing we’ve lost him for a period of time.”
Hause has already been sidelined for more than a month and this latest setback means Villa could be without him for nearly three months in total. Bjorn Engels has made the squad in Hause’s absence, but Smith hasn’t introduced him from the bench. Tyrone Mings and Konsa are his preferred centre-back pairing.
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It’s disappointing to hear that Hause will be out of action for at least another month given how well he did after replacing Konsa, so Villa will hope Engels can deliver in a similar fashion if called upon.
For now at least, Smith is left relying on Mings and Konsa to keep producing the goods at centre-back.
