Unai Emery confirms significant Aston Villa injury blow after Chelsea defeat

Unai Emery has confirmed Martinez’s half-time substitution in the 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge was enforced as the goalkeeper felt discomfort in his hand.

It was a horror first 45 minutes for the World Cup winner as he made two glaring errors before suffering his injury. Martinez gave away an indirect free-kick by needlessly picking up the ball after a light Pau Torres touch and gifted an open goal to Nicolas Jackson, who surely would’ve scored his second of the game had he controlled the ball better.

Martinez, who recently scooped the Yashin Trophy and paraded it around the field at Villa Park midweek, was the star man in Villa’s 0-0 draw with Juventus. It’s all come crushing down just a few days later, however, with the Argentine now facing a nervous wait to determine the severity of his hand problem.

“I don’t know now what exactly is his injury. It’s in his hand but we have to check him,” Emery said in the post-match press conference, confirming the uncertainty of the situation.

Robin Olsen, called upon to replace the injured Martinez, conceded one second-half goal at Stamford Bridge. The Swede couldn’t do a great deal about it as Cole Palmer whipped a beauty into the upper left stanchion to make it 3-0.

Villa decided against investing in the goalkeeping department in the summer, leaving Olsen and Joe Gauci as the alternatives to Martinez. If the injury is serious it could be significant, with Olsen likely to continue as the second choice ahead of Gauci.