Yahoo News Emi Buendia injury update as Aston Villa ace shares brilliant footage
Aston Villa's Emi Buendia has shared footage of himself training with a ball on the grass at Bodymoor Heath.
It's a huge step forward for Buendia, who so far hasn't played a part in the club's impressive season after suffering knee ligament damage on the eve of the new Premier League campaign. It was a crushing blow for the attacker as he was arguably Villa's most impressive player during pre-season and had also featured in all 41 matches Villa played last term.
In an update, Buendia took to Instagram to post a 30-second video of himself in a pass and move drill, where he'd sprint towards a mannequin before receiving the ball and passing it into a small goal. The post also includes the caption: "Closer. We continue" along with emojis.
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Buendia sustained his ACL injury a few days before Tyrone Mings during training ahead of the first game of the Premier League season. Both players have made strong progress in their rehabilitation and Unai Emery is hopeful they could return to training before the end of the campaign, but doesn't expect either to be available to play.
"Always they are in our mind," Emery said earlier this year. "They have spirit and they support us in the training ground. I think all the season they are going to be out, but hopefully they can train at the end of the season. Then starting next season being fine to come back like before."
In January, Buendia told Relevo: "When the extent of the injury became known, Emery called me. He told me to be calm, that it was time for me to recover in the best possible way and to enjoy the family. That if I needed anything. Almost every day he asks about my progress, how I feel and how I am psychologically.
"There are moments when you wonder how I would be now if I didn't have the injury . Seeing the team's situation and how they are...I would love to be on the green with them. Suffering, running and enjoying.
"When I let go of the crutch it was an incredible feeling. It's like starting from scratch, like starting to walk when you're a child. That feeling of putting your foot down again was something... It shocked me to feel weight on that crutch again. left leg. When you see that you are progressing, that you are achieving things in this type of recovery that is so difficult and so hard, the satisfaction you feel is an incredible thing.
"The greatest moment of satisfaction I have felt in all these months? There are many, but I will stick with a recent one. I went to the doctor's office and saw that my knee moved like a normal knee . I didn't feel any kind of discomfort. It was one more step in that return to normality."
