Aston Villa will be looking to put a poor run of form behind them this afternoon as Steven Gerrard’s side travel down south to take on Brighton & Hove Albion for their latest Premier League fixture. 

Looking ahead to the match, it seems as though Gerrard will have to make do without one of his attacking players for this occasion. 

What’s the news? 

In a recent Twitter post from Villa journalist Ashley Preece, winger Bertrand Traore will be unavailable to feature in today’s clash at the Amex Stadium. 

Relaying news from Gerarrd's latest press conference, Preece said "Bertrand Traore (hamstring) still out."

The Midlands club signed the attacker back in the 2020 summer transfer window from French club Olympique Lyon in a deal worth a reported fee of £17m.

Since then, the former Chelsea youngster has managed to rack up 45 appearances in total for the Villa Park outfit, scoring eight goals and providing seven assists along the way, showing what a useful attacking option he can be for them.

Gerrard will be fuming

The 26-year-old has not featured for the Villans in the league since their 2-1 defeat against Brentford back in early January after being called up to take part in the recent AFCON tournament where he picked up his hamstring injury.

Taking this into account, it's safe to say that Gerrard will not be happy that Traore will not be available once again to feature for his side today, which could end up being a very big blow for the side.

With Villa failing to score a goal in their two previous league games against Newcastle United and Watford, who have managed to concede a combined total of 92 goals between them in the league this season, it seems as though Gerrard could have done with having someone like Traore available in his squad for today to see if he can freshen up their attacking force and pick up a much-needed win.

Moving forward, if the Midlands club end up securing anything other than three points this afternoon, this will only further the need for the injured winger to make a full recovery sooner rather than later to see if he can be the answer that Gerrard is looking for.

In other news: Forget Ings: Gerrard must ruthlessly axe £52k-p/w flop, he’s “Villa’s biggest issue” - opinion