Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana a doubt for Nottingham Forest Europa League semi-final clash

Amadou Onana will continue to be assessed ahead of Aston Villa’s Europa League semi-final first leg against Nottingham Forest with a knee injury.

Villa manager Unai Emery confirmed the midfielder will be tested this afternoon before his side are due to train, having missed the 1-0 defeat at Fulham on Saturday.

Onana, 24, had trained earlier in the week but missed the final training session before travelling to west London due to a knee issue, which he had been managing in recent weeks.

Sources close to the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, confirmed to The Athletic earlier in the week that there was no definitive timeframe on Onana’s recovery, with the Belgium international instead being assessed daily.

Onana’s potential absence for Villa’s trip to Nottingham could mean either Lamare Bogarde, who started in his place at Fulham, or Douglas Luiz, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Forest, will replace him.

Ross Barkley is not available due to not being named in the Europa League squad, while Boubacar Kamara remains out until the summer with a knee injury.

“We will train this afternoon and we will see how he’s responding. If he’s feeling good,” said Emery.

“Now some players have small pains. One of them is Onana, who couldn’t play the match against Fulham. Yesterday, he was tested and today he will be tested to see if we can get players who have some pain ready to play tomorrow. In case not, we must respond with the players who are ready, like Lamare Bogarde and Douglas Luiz.”

Onana, Villa’s £50million ($67.m) club record signing from Everton, has made 35 appearances this season, scoring twice.