Zimbabwe midfielder MarvellousNakamba was a major absentee for Aston Villa during their derby defeat at the hands of hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League last weekend. The Zimbabwe international was not in the squad as Aston Villa suffered a third successive league loss with the 2-1 defeat to Wolves in the Midlands Derby.
Villa have been without Nakamba for several months due to the knee injury sustained towards the end of last year. The injury made him miss the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Cameroon earlier this year as Zimbabwe crashed out at the group stage.Nakamba recently recovered from the knee problem, but he’s not considered fit for the Premier League yet due to the lack of match fitness.
For the Wolves game, Villa paid the price for a poor first half display as the hosts registered two goals for a two-goal lead at the break. Portuguese defender Jonny Castro made it two goals in his last two league games to give Wolves a seventh minute lead in their home derby clash with Villa. An own goal from Villa substitute Ashley Young then doubled the lead for Wolves having come on for Frenchman Lucas Signs due to stomach cramps. The goals fromJonny and Young (own goal) gave Wolves a two-nil lead at the end of the first 45 minutes. Villa pulled one back through a penalty from Ollie Watkins on 86 minutes after he was brought down by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa, but it turned out to be a consolation goal.
Aston Villa have now lost three Premier League matches in a row after the defeat at the hands of Wolves who were able to do the double over their Midlands rivals. For Wolves, they were able to bounce back from the 3-2 home defeat to Leeds United in their last league game.