Aston Villa will be desperate for Emi Martinez injury return amid this worrying statistic

Aston Villa fans will be eager for goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who was forced off with a head injury against Newcastle United on Saturday, to return as soon as possible. The Argentine suffered a knee to the head in the 4-0 defeat - adding insult to injury for the Villans on an already challenging afternoon.

Martinez, who left the pitch while the game was still at 0-0, attempted to carry on for around 10-15 minutes before he recognised he could no longer carry on. The incident, which caused a lot of concern at the time, sparked plenty of debate around concussions and the timing of substitutions.

Radio pundit Chris Sutton, for instance, made it clear the Villa goalkeeper should have come off as soon as it happened. Taking to Twitter, Sutton said: “He plays on then goes down again and is subbed. I’ll say it again. Football doesn’t give a toss about its own players! It pretends it cares.”

It was later revealed by interim head coach Aaron Danks that Martinez had in fact suffered “a delayed onset” of his injury. Speaking post-match, Danks said: “Emi is fine. He’s showered, dressed, changed, walking around and talking to everybody. The club will monitor and take care of him to make sure that continues.”

It is unclear whether Martinez will be available for Unai Emery’s first match in charge at home to Manchester United on Sunday. Villans supporters will be keen for him to be, though, especially when considering a rather concerning statistic concerning backup goalkeeper Robin Olsen, who replaced Martinez at St James’ Park.

In his last 59 minutes of Premier League action, the Sweden international has conceded seven goals - equating to one every eight minutes. If he were to play against United and continue at that rate, the Red Devils would score up to a dozen goals.

Of course, this is completely unrealistic, but Olsen’s unfortunate form is something he will likely be very aware of. Although he hasn’t spoken about it publicly, his confidence is probably rather low at the moment, and that’s something Emery would likely rather avoid with almighty pressure already in place ahead of his first match.

The clash, which kicks off at 2pm on Sunday, November 6, will see an already high-flying United side visit Villa Park. Emery has a tough challenge on his managerial debut, with Erik ten Hag’s side winning seven of their last 10 matches. They are also unbeaten in their last five.