Aston Villa injury news: Unai Emery receives double boost ahead of visit to Bournemouth

Aston Villa have received a double injury boost ahead of Saturday's Premier League fixture at Bournemouth.

The West Midlands outfit are under pressure to bounce back this weekend, a consequence of losing 1-0 to Brentford in their most recent top-flight game.

As a result, Villa sit seven points adrift of leaders Arsenal in the Premier League table with 14 matches remaining.

New signings Douglas Luiz and Tammy Abraham were thrown straight into the starting lineup for the meeting with the Bees, the duo delivering encouraging performances in midfield and attack respectively.

Their introductions into the team came at a time when each of Amadou Onana and Ollie Watkins were sidelined.

© Imago / Sportimage

Watkins to return for Villa's trip to Bournemouth

Three days before the Brentford contest, Watkins sustained a hamstring injury during the Europa League fixture with Red Bull Salzburg.

However, speaking at a press conference on Friday, Unai Emery revealed that the club's top goalscorer would be back in the squad.

The Spaniard said: "He rested last week because he had a small injury and he was not ready to play.

"But this week progressively he was joining us, training normally, and today he trained normally."

Meanwhile, Onana is also in a position to play some part of the game at the Vitality Stadium after recovering from muscle fatigue.

© Imago

Will Watkins earn an immediate recall?

In Watkins' absence, Abraham made a positive impression, despite failing to get on the scoresheet and seeing a goal disallowed.

If there are any doubts over whether Watkins can last 90 minutes, it would make sense for Emery to keep Abraham down the middle of the attack.

With a home fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion to follow on Wednesday, Watkins' fitness could be managed.

The same is likely to apply with Onana when midfield trio Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans and John McGinn are all sidelined in the long term.