Aston Villa gifted injury boost as Matty Cash targets Leeds return

Aston Villa are set to be boosted by the returns of two injured defenders for their Premier League clash against Leeds United.

Kavanagh dropped from Premier League action after Villa blunders

Chris Kavanagh has not been appointed to referee a Premier League game this weekend after a series of errors during the Aston Villa v Newcastle FA Cup tie last Saturday.

Kavanagh and his assistants Gary Beswick and Nick Greenhalgh were heavily criticised for their performance during the FA Cup fourth-round clash at Villa Park, where they were operating without VAR as was the case for all ties in the round.

They failed to spot Tammy Abraham was offside for Villa’s opening goal, missed a shin-high tackle by Villa full-back Lucas Digne on Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy which could have warranted a straight red card and then gave a free-kick for a handball by Digne even though he was clearly inside the penalty area at the time.

Digne has been heavily criticised for his defending in recent weeks and could now be sold

Beswick was named as an assistant for the Nottingham Forest v Liverpool match on Sunday, but Kavanagh and Greenhalgh do not feature.

There is accountability on officials, with appointments selected by Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) based on factors including performances, which are judged post-match by an independent key match incidents (KMI) panel.

However, he is highly regarded, was recently promoted to UEFA’s elite list of referees and regularly officiates in the Champions League.

Earlier on Monday, Wayne Rooney said he believed the errors made were an indication of an over-reliance on VAR by officials.

Rooney described the handball call as “one of the worst decisions he had ever seen”, in his role as one of the BBC’s pundits for the live broadcast of the match on Saturday evening.

Unai Emery was without regular right-back Matty Cash for the defeat to the Magpies, but is set to be boosted by a return to action for the Poland international this weekend.

Matty Cash set to return from injury vs Leeds

According to a report from Birmingham Live, Cash is expected to be fit for Saturday’s clash against Daniel Farke’s side.

The former Nottingham Forest man has been one of Emery’s standout performers throughout his time at the club, with the Spaniard hailing him as “perfect”.

Cash is low down on Villa’s wage list at £80,000-a-week, but has started 24 of 26 games in the Premier League this season, scoring three times from his flying full-back role.

Fellow right-back Andrés García could also return this weekend against Leeds, having been on the bench against Newcastle.