Aston Villa star Ezri Konsa posts injury update ahead of new season

Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa has posted a fitness update as he continues his recovery from injury.

The 24-year-old suffered a knee issue against Crystal Palace in May, which Villa boss Steven Gerrard initially feared could see the centre-back on the side-lines for the long-term. The former Brentford man missed the club’s final two fixtures of last season and could make his return as late as early September.

With pre-season set to begin in July, Konsa has been keeping Villa fans up to date with his fitness regime on social media. Earlier this month, the defender posted a picture of himself in the gym with a brace on his right knee.

Speaking about Konsa’s injury at the time, Gerrard explained that the defender would miss the start of next season: “Ezri, it’s been confirmed that he’s got a bad knee issue so he’ll be out for anything between 12 to 16 weeks, which isn’t great news, but we’re quite relieved because we thought we were dealing with an ACL but, thankfully, it’s not that. He should return, all being well, at the back-end of August, beginning of September.”

However, the ex-England U21 international appears to have taken another positive step on his road to recovery. Konsa posted clips of himself on Instagram using an exercise bike without the knee brace he was previously wearing.

The clips were accompanied by a sweating emoji and showed Konsa’s heart rate reaching 172bpm and working at 90% maximum. That the rehabilitation of his knee appears to be going well will be an encouraging sign for Steven Gerrard as he prepares for the new season.

The Villa manager has added to his centre-back options through the arrival of Diego Carlos and has further competition for a starting berth in Tyrone Mings,