Aston Villa will be without goalkeeper Orjan Nyland for a lengthy time after the 28-year-old damaged his Achilles in training today.

The Norwegian has endured a tough first few months in English football, making several errors in what has been a mixed campaign.

That prompted Dean Smith to seal an early deal for Gent goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic who will join up with the club once the window opens.

However, since Nyland has started to show his ability in recent games, including a match-winning penalty save against Swansea.

Therefore, the news that he has suffered a bad injury, as revealed by journalist Alan Nixon earlier today, will be bad news for Smith.

It also presents the boss with a headache for Tuesday's game against QPR as Kalinic will be unable to feature.

Additionally, it's a huge setback for Nyland on a personal level and it's fair to say most Villa fans were feeling sorry for the stopper.

Here's how some reacted on twitter...

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