Leon Bailey sends 'very tough' Aston Villa message after latest injury setback

Leon Bailey has sent a heartfelt message to Aston Villa fans following his latest injury setback.

It has been a frustrating campaign for Bailey , who arrived at Villa Park for £30million from Bayer Leverkusen last summer. The winger truly announced himself to the Villa faithful with a whirlwind cameo against Everton in September.

The Jamaican doubled Villa 's lead when his corner was headed in by future teammate Lucas Digne, before he sprinted beyond the Everton backline to thunder the ball home and complete a 3-0 win. However, that would only last 21 minutes until Bailey was substituted himself, shortly afterwards.

The 24-year-old missed Villa’s next three games, before a thigh problem in December further ruled him out until mid February. Though he has been restricted to just seven league starts, three of those had come in the team’s last four games as Steven Gerrard sought to give Bailey a run in the side .

However, he was substituted on 40 minutes through injury against Norwich on Saturday, in the latest chapter of his stop-start season. And Bailey has since taken to social media to post a message to supporters.

Writing on Instagram, Bailey said: “This season has been very tough, but God gives the hardest battles to his strongest soldiers. The most important thing is to overcome all those obstacles in your way & never give up, that’s what makes you a solid/stronger individual.

“I just wanna say I really appreciate all the love and support from everyone & I’ll be back VERY soon.”

After the match, Gerrard confirmed that Bailey had sustained an ankle injury. The Villa boss admitted he was “frustrated” by the setback as the winger had been impressing the coaching staff in training at Bodymoor Heath.

“I'm really