According to the Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa loanee Tommy Elphick has suffered a knee injury during his first league start with Reading.
The 30-year-old defender joined the Royals on loan for the remainder of the season with an option to make it permanent. However, he was forced to leave the field after only 32 minutes in Reading’s 2-0 defeat against Millwall.
Manager Jaap Stam was concerned after seeing the experienced defender leaving the pitch in pain, especially because his replacement, Tyler Blackett is also struggling with injury problems. However, the Dutch manager has hailed Elphick’s performances despite he had played less than one half.
He said, “I don’t know how it is but it doesn’t look good. There was no one in the area when it happened, he twisted his knee and felt something.
“It must have been quite painful otherwise he wouldn’t have had to go off. He did well when he was on the pitch so it was very disappointing.”
The arrival of Axel Tuanzebe from Manchester United to Aston Villa had closed space for the former Lions captain, forcing him to leave the club for some regular first-team football.
It seems that Villa boss Steve Bruce doesn’t count on the tall centre-back anymore, and even if he returns to Villa Park next summer, it would be hard for him to fight his place in the squad.
