Aston Villa Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez appears to have passed another significant hurdle in his recovery. He suffered a fractured finger during the club's Europa League final victory.
The Argentina international finished the season by helping Unai Emery's team lift European silverware. However, most discussion since then has focused on Will he fit in perfectly? At the time of the World Cup.
Recent reports from Argentina Suggestions were made that Martínez was still training with restrictions and had not yet been allowed to have a full goalkeeper season. Now, there has been another positive development.
Aston Villa goalkeeper is training wearing gloves
according to TYC Sports Journalist Gaston Adul, Argentinian medical staff remove the cast from Martínez's right hand. This happened after a fresh investigation.
The Aston Villa player is recovering from a fracture of the ring finger on his right hand, which he suffered during the warm-up before the Europa League final.
After initially being limited to fitness work and modified goalkeeper drills, Martínez has now returned to training with gloves on.
Reports indicate he participated normally during Thursday's session. Although some inconveniences were visible in the beginning, he was still able to complete the work without any problems.
The Argentine coaching staff has gradually increased the demands on the goalkeeper in recent times. Earlier in the recovery process, he was limited to footwork drills and exercises using only one arm. That platform now seems to be leaving him behind.
world cup green light
Emiliano Martinez is now expected to start Argentina's opening World Cup match against Algeria.
This represents a significant change given the uncertainty surrounding injury so soon after Aston Villa's European success.
TYC Sports say there is no doubt about his place in the starting eleven. This is despite the fact that he did not feature in Argentina's practice matches against Honduras and Iceland.
Martínez will arrive in the opening match of the tournament 27 days after suffering a fracture. Therefore, he will have approximately four weeks of recovery before returning to competitive action.
For Aston Villa, this latest update is possibly the most encouraging yet. After weeks of rehabilitation, protective gear and restricted training, the club's first-choice goalkeeper is now back in action with the gloves and moving closer to full fitness.
While Argentina will continue to carefully manage his workload, signs are increasingly pointing to Martínez leaving injury behind and starting the World Cup as the country's undisputed number one.
