And what’s the team news for the trip to Villa Park? Are any of the other absentees close to a return? “Aaron Wan-Bissaka was on the [training] pitch, but then he dropped out and I don’t know in this moment what is the diagnosis and what that means for Sunday. Ty Malacia [and] Mason Mount are not returning yet. They are training very hard. They are getting closer. They are not back on the team training. And of course Licha Martinez dropped out. We will miss him for a couple of weeks, I think, definitely in this block until the international window starts, he will not be there. But we have a good squad and we have many players who can fill in that position, and it is up to them to bring the right levels and to help the team to contribute to a winning team.”
And how is Licha? Because all fans were disappointed, were sad for him because he just got back in the team, just got fit. He’s such a wonderful character, such a great player. How is he? Is he coping okay with the injury news?
“He has to, but it’s very frustrating for him, for me, for the team. But that’s football and you have to deal with such setbacks as a team, as a club and also Licha as an individual he has to deal with it, how sad this also is. But already after a couple of days he knows where he is and he’s there to fight and he doesn’t want to miss one day of his recovery. So every game he wants to play. So when he works very good, he can return quickly.”
Luckily, you’ve got a lot of good centre-halves competing for places. So how much does that help you knowing that you’ve got quality and depth?
“Luckily we have and we have, I think, very good players who can replace him and will replace him and will contribute and help the team.”
