Villa sweating on Bailey’s fitness for Newcastle clash

BIRMINGHAM, England (CMC):

Reggae Boy Leon Bailey has returned to training after suffering a hamstring injury in Aston Villa’s 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest last Saturday.

The 25-year-old limped out of the contest at Villa Park after 28 minutes, replaced by Bertrand Traore who eventually gave the hosts a 1-0 lead on 48 minutes as the hosts went on to complete a 2-0 win and their fourth on the bounce.

Bailey, who has been integral to manager Unai Emery’s plans since the Spaniard took over last October, now faces a race to be fit for a critical showdown against high-flying Newcastle today.

“Hopefully it’s not a big injury,” Emery said in confirming the injury.

Bailey, who joined Villa two years ago from Bayer Leverkusen, produced a pacy run to beat his marker, but pulled up soon afterwards and played no further part in the game.

His replacement Traore, who will now be eyeing his first start in over a year at the weekend, scored from close range before Ollie Watkins added the second in stoppage time at the end.

Emery are in a critical stage of their campaign, currently sizing up a European place after a run of excellent form which has left them sixth in the Premier League standings on 47 points.

They are nine points off top-four with eight games left.

Bailey has scored four times during the campaign and provided three assists.Aston Villa will host Newcastle at 6:30 a.m. (Jamaica time) today.