Aston Villa have been without Lucas Digne lately due to injury, but he is fit to return against Newcastle United on Saturday.
The French defender hasn’t featured for Villa since September 16th, where they beat Southampton 1-0 at Villa Park. Interestingly, it was the final win of Steven Gerrard’s tenure as manager.
Digne has since missed the past five games due to an ankle injury, having previously been an ever-present in the starting XI.
But the 29-year-old is now fit once again, and could make his return at St James’ Park this weekend.
Danks confirms that Digne will return for Villa
Unai Emery is going to replace Gerrard as Villa manager, but he will not be in charge on Saturday. Instead, Aaron Danks will continue to call the shots.
He has spoke to the press before Saturday’s game, and provided an update on Digne’s fitness ahead of the trip to the North East.
“It’s mostly positives, really,” Danks said.
“Lucas Digne has done a full week of training back in with the group, that’s fantastic, so we welcome him back into the squad.”
Digne back to face the club he rejected in January
If Digne does feature on Saturday, it will be his second appearance at St James’ Park in 2022. However, he had the opportunity to be a regular in the North East.
At the start of the year, Newcastle wanted to sign a left-back. As for Digne, he wanted out of Everton.
It felt like the pair were on a collision course, with Howe’s side making a move for the France international. Having secured Kieran Trippier’s services on the right, Newcastle’s next plan was to sign Digne for the left.
However, that’s not what happened. While the Magpies wanted Digne, he didn’t want the Magpies. The new Toon owners made an approach, but Digne wasn’t keen on a move to Newcastle.
Instead, he joined Aston Villa for £25million. That inadvertently paved the way for Matt Targett to move up north.
It quickly transpired that Newcastle got the better end of the deal. Digne failed to set the world alight at Villa Park, while Targett became a fan favourite on Tyneside.
One of Digne’s first Villa appearances came at St James’ Park in February, and he seriously struggled that afternoon. He will be praying he doesn’t put in a repeat performance if he returns to the Villa side on Saturday.
If he does feature, he will have the unenviable task of stopping the red hot Miguel Almiron. The Paraguayan is well placed to make Digne’s second appearance at SJP since rejecting Newcastle just as miserable as his last.
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