Martínez, Asensio & Onana: Latest Aston Villa injury news and return dates ahead of Club Brugge clash

Aston Villa will take a healthy 3-1 aggregate lead into Wednesday evening’s second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against Club Brugge – but Unai Emery could have to make do without several key players as they look to book a place in the quarter-finals of Europe’s biggest competition.

Either Liverpool or Paris Saint-German await if Emery’s men can successfully navigate the midweek match at Villa Park, but options could be limited with Emiliano Martínez and Marco Asensio are among the new additions to the injury list.

We’ve got all the latest updates on them and the rest of Villa’s stricken players, along with information on their expected return dates, below.

Martínez & Asensio doubts after Brentford omissions

Both Martínez and Asensio were unexpected absentees for Saturday’s 1-0 win away to Brentford, with Emery opting to “avoid risk” after both players reported “some muscle pain” in the build-up to a rare win on the road.

Yashin Trophy-winning goalkeeper Martínez had recently been withdrawn at half-time in the 4-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, but having played the full 90 minutes in the first leg against Brugge it was assumed that he was back to full fitness. It remains unclear whether the problem that kept him out against Brentford was a recurrence of the same minor issue or a newly-collected knock.

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Similarly, loan star Asensio - who has scored five goals in an impressive start to his Villa career - was rested for the Brentford game due to an unspecified muscular issue. Emery told the media that he was “not feeling good” but added that “hopefully both can recover in time for Wednesday.” It is not anticipated that either Martínez or Asensio will be out for any great length of time, but both are doubts for the game against the Belgians.

While those two key players missed out against Brentford, there was plenty of good news from the trip to the capital, with Matty Cash and Boubcar Kamara earning some more minutes from the bench after recent injuries, while Tyrone Mings completed the full 90 minutes. Their returns, combined with a solid performance from back-up goalkeeper Robin Olsen, earned Villa’s defence just their fourth league clean sheet this season.

Torres back in action and Onana close

There have also been positive updates on the fitness of Pau Torres and Amadou Onana as several of Villa’s recent absentees gradually return to full health.

Spanish centre-half Torres hasn’t played since the beginning of January thanks to a broken metatarsal but is now back in full training and was fit enough to make the bench against Brentford, although he didn’t get onto the pitch at any point. It isn’t known whether he will risked against Club Brugge, but he’s expected to be in the match day squad once more.

Onana, who has been out for over a month now with a thigh injury, is also “close” to a return to action and is working with the team in full training, although he wasn’t ready to feature on Saturday. It remains unclear whether the Belgian midfielder is ready to return against Club Brugge, but he should be back in the squad imminently.

The only other player still short of full match fitness is Ross Barkley, who has struggled with a persistent calf injury since January which was aggravated a couple of weeks back. Emery has declined to offer a timeline for the former Everton and Luton Town man’s return, but simply described him as “out” and “not available” for the Brentford game. He is not likely to feature on Wednesday night, either.

Two players who will also miss out despite being fit and available are new signings Donyell Malen and Andrés Garcia - neither was registered for the Champions League squad due to restrictions on the number of new players that can be added to the side.