Aston Villa handed Matty Cash injury concern after Poland duty

Aston Villa will assess Matty Cash’s fitness ahead of Saturday’s clash with Sunderland after the defender returned early from international duty with concussion.

Cash started Poland’s Nations League clash against Romania on Saturday but was forced off after 76 minutes with the injury.

The defender went down after being elbowed in the jaw before being replaced by Arkadiusz Pyrka during the 2-1 defeat.

Cash later took to social media to share a video of the incident, sarcastically captioning it: “Nice one” followed by three thumbs-up emojis to express his frustration.

Footage from the mixed zone after the game showed Cash telling a reporter he had suffered concussion.

The Polish national team confirmed on Sunday morning that Cash would miss Tuesday’s Nations League match against Sweden and leave the training camp because of the injury.

Cash will now return to Villa, where he will be assessed ahead of their return to Premier League action against Sunderland at Villa Park next Saturday.

A statement from Poland read: “Matty Cash is leaving the ongoing Poland national team training camp due to a concussion.

“The defender suffered the injury during Saturday’s match against Romania in Bucharest and will be unable to play in Tuesday’s match against Sweden.”

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and midfielder Joao Gomes came up against each other in an international friendly on Saturday, with Japan edging a five-goal thriller.

Japan surrendered an early two-goal lead but snatched an injury-time winner. Suzuki played the full match, while Gomes came on for the final 12 minutes.

Victor Lindelof was also in Nations League action for Sweden, captaining them to a 3-2 home win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The result leaves Sweden top of League B Group 4 with 13 points from five matches, while Poland sit third.