Double injury update on Bruno Guimaraes and Lewis Miley ahead of Aston Villa clash

One of the only negatives from Tuesday's 2-1 win at Spurs was our growing injury list.

Lewis Miley wasn't in the squad once again, Joelinton remained absent for the fifth match running and we then lost Bruno Guimaraes late in the game to a potential hamstring injury.

A few days on, The Mail's Craig Hope has now issued a Thursday night update on both Bruno and Miley's injury situation, offering some mixed news on the midfield duo.

The full extent of Bruno's problem is due to become clearer once additional checks are completed, but Hope's information is that the Brazilian will miss Saturday's FA Cup clash with Aston Villa.

We'll know more when Eddie Howe speaks to the media at 9am tomorrow, although it's suspected that next week's six-hour trip to Qarabag for our Champions League play-off first leg could also be considered too risky, given it's a hamstring issue.

As for Miley, the 19-year-old will also miss our trip to Villa Park and is having scans 'every few days' on a dead leg that has 'proved more serious than first thought', keeping him out of recent games against Liverpool, Man City, Brentford and Spurs.

Hope reports that the England Under-21 star is likely to need another week of recovery, meaning he too could miss our first leg trip to Azerbaijan next Wednesday, leaving us light on fit midfielder.

Discussing Bruno's withdrawal on Tuesday night, Howe said: “I’m not sure how he is, but I think he’s a little bit worried. He’s said he’s never had a problem with his hamstrings before, so is it cramp or was it a muscle problem?

“It probably feels like it was more of an injury to me, but let’s wait and see. We’re trying to stay positive at this moment.”

The boss also discussed how much of a miss Miley and Joelinton have been, adding: “We’re missing Lewie massively. He’s a huge player for us, and so of course is Joelinton in our midfield. They’re two high-level players.

“We’ve spoken many times about the defensive injuries that we’ve had this season – we just hope we haven’t lost Bruno. That would be the real negative of the night.”