Boubacar Kamara commented on his return to action with Aston Villa since the summer.

‘I’ve had time to recover my fitness’

The 26-year-old suffered a serious knee injury in January during the early stages of a 2-1 win over Tottenham in the FA Cup third round, and he was absent from the team for the rest of the season.

He was match fit again during preseason in August, and Unai Emery has been eager to get him in the mix. As one would expect, Kamara is keen to keep free from niggles and a contributor on the field.

“After this long injury, I feel good. I’ve had time to recover my fitness, the routine of training and games. Now I feel better, my recovery is better after games, so I’m happy.

“A lot of change, a lot of important players left, but we are happy with the new players. They are fantastic, they work a lot to understand how the manager wants to play. We are happy.”

‘He is intelligent, he is a good professional’

Head coach Emery expressed his admiration for the French player. He arrived in the dugout in November 2022, months after the midfielder moved from Olympique Marseille to Villa Park.

Kamara has been a key piece of the puzzle in the engine room for the majority of his stint on the sidelines.

“He was so, so unlucky. He had two very hard injuries for a long time, but he came back strongly the first time, and now the second time, progressively as well, he’s getting again his fitness.

“A lot of things he improved. He was learning, the first two years we were working was really fantastic. But I am expecting, again, the best Bouba, with his qualities, his maturity.

“He is intelligent, he is a good professional, so he has a lot of positive things to improve and to get his best for the next weeks, month, years, hopefully with us, and of course, for his career.”