Roma hoped recovery time of Aston Villa loanee Bailey was ‘shorter’

Leon Bailey is still unavailable for Roma, but Gian Piero Gasperini hopes the Aston Villa loanee will return to action in one or two weeks: ‘The encouraging thing is that we are close now, after eight weeks.’

Bailey joined Roma on an initial loan deal from Aston Villa over the summer, but has yet to make his debut with the Giallorossi.

The Jamaica international suffered a muscle injury during his very first training session with the Giallorossi in August.

The Aston Villa loanee partially trained with the group earlier this week, but is still not fit to feature in a competitive match.

“Bailey won’t be available; hopefully, he’ll be back next week. As always, after a break, the team is split into two groups,” Gasperini said at a press conference on Friday (via Romanews), ahead of Saturday’s home clash against Inter.

“Those who played with their national teams had the first training session yesterday. Ndicka will return to training today, that’s normal after breaks. All the others had a good week of work.

“We were hoping his [Bailey’s] recovery time would be shorter, but clearly the injuries required this timeline. The encouraging thing is that we are close now, after eight weeks,” Gasperini continued.

“It will be a matter of one or two more weeks before he’s available. He’s coming off a long spell of inactivity, so it won’t all be smooth sailing; he’ll need time to integrate. Now we have to look forward. He’ll give us a big help; he has different skill sets from other players in the squad, and we count on him.”

Paulo Dybala, on the other hand, was not included in the Argentina squad and spent the international break training at Trigoria, so he’ll be eligible against the Nerazzurri tomorrow.

“The options we have are well-known. Dybala, like everyone else who stayed here, has had two good weeks of training,” said the Roma coach.

“The sessions have definitely been very useful for him and Pellegrini, but I’d say everyone who remained. I have to say I’m quite satisfied with what we’ve done over the past days. Of course, those who stayed have a good sense of their condition and how they’re feeling. For those who were away on international duty, it’s always a bit trickier. That’s the same for everyone. Many played, some a bit less, some more. The uncertainty of restarting after an international break is something every team faces.”

During his press conference today, Gasperini reiterated that Inter and Napoli remain the best teams in Serie A and that the Giallorossi’s target is to qualify for the Champions League.