Aston Villa sweating on Amadou Onana fitness before Nottingham Forest Europa League semi-final | OneFootball

Aston Villa are unsure over Amadou Onana’s fitness before Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first leg against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

The midfielder missed the 1-0 defeat at Fulham on Saturday. According to Nottingham Post, Unai Emery said he does not yet know if the Belgian will be ready, with progress judged day by day.

Emery added he was unsure whether Onana would be ready for Thursday or next Sunday, and noted Ross Barkley cannot play as he is not on the list. He said Onana had not been feeling good and had some small pain.

If Onana is absent, it would hand Forest an edge in midfield. The 24-year-old has started Villa’s past nine Premier League games and all their Europa League knockout ties to date.

Forest boss Vitor Pereira has issues of his own, with centre-back Jair Cunha forced off with an arm injury during the win over Sunderland. With Murillo already expected to miss Thursday, Pereira may pick between Morato and Zach Abbott to partner Nikola Milenkovic.

It will be a landmark night at the City Ground, Forest’s first European semi-final in 42 years. Villa are chasing a first major European final in 44 years, with the winners heading to Istanbul to face Freiburg or Sporting Braga.

Source: Nottingham Post