Aston Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia facing 'months out' after surgery
Wednesday 22 November 2017 10:26, UK
Aston Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia is facing "months out" with more ankle surgery looming, according to Steve Bruce.
The Ivory Coast international is set for another operation on the ankle that he broke in April, having yet to complete 90 minutes in his eight starts for Villa this season.
Bruce said: "It's not looking good on Kodjia, in fact, it's flaming awful if I'm being honest.
"We think there's a possibility of another operation. It's devastating for us all. It's a big, huge blow.
"It's likely going to be months. We know how important he was to us last season."
Kodjia, last season's top scorer with 19 goals, has not featured since turning his ankle in last month's 0-0 draw with Birmingham. He then aggravated the problem when on international duty with Ivory Coast.
Bruce added: "We thought he was fine when he went on international duty. He had twisted his ankle before but he was fine. Unfortunately, he broke down.
"Without your No 9, it's always going to be difficult. But we will have to keep going and deal with it.
"We have been without him for parts of this season and we have coped with it. Let's hope we can find something in January that will help us because that will be vitally important."
