Unai Emery to make late call on Aston Villa star
Unai Emery is considering giving Boubacar Kamara his first Premier League start since February when Villa face Chelsea on Sunday.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
The midfielder, who spent eight months out with a serious knee injury, impressed in Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Juventus and Emery had hinted he will remain in the starting XI, provided he has felt no ill-effects.
Kamara will be assessed when Villa will train on Saturday morning before heading to London. Emery also hopes to have £50million record signing Amadou Onana back available following a foot injury, though Jacob Ramsey remains out.
Villa head to Stamford Bridge aiming to snap a seven-match winless run and Emery said: “Kamara was feeling comfortable and I decided to (take him off) for the last 20 minutes against Juventus because he needs minutes, but as well to be careful with the minutes he is playing.
“If everything is going well, if he comes through tomorrow well then my idea is to use the better player on Sunday as well and one of them is Kamara.
“With Kamara, Barkley, Onana and Tielemans I am happy. I want each player to compete in each position we have. In the midfield we now have players we are happy with.”
Villa sit three points behind third-placed Chelsea in the table and Emery said: “Sunday is a very important match, [for] how we can be close or not to them.