Reggae Boyz winger Leon Bailey says he’s closer to getting back to his best after struggling with injuries during the first half of the English Premier League (EPL) season.

The 27-year-old scored his first goal of the campaign and first since April in Aston Villa’s 2-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday.

Bailey’s form has come into question throughout Villa’s season after registering 14 goals and 14 assists during the 2023-24 season which helped the club finish in the top four of the EPL to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

However, he has dealt with setbacks due to injury which even saw him miss Jamaica’s Concacaf Nations League A group matches during the September and October international window.

Bailey says he’s been unfairly criticised by supporters for his performances and says trying to find form again is par for the course.

“I have had a groin injury and two hamstring injuries,” he said. “It is common knowledge when a player is stop-start, stop-start with injuries, coming back, your confidence level drops. It is normal. No player is coming back from injury with their confidence levels over the moon. It is going to take them time.

“I am a sprinter, a person who makes a lot of runs. I’ve had two hamstring injuries. But these things happen in football. We do a lot of work behind the scenes but even while working, you can still be unfortunate. I have just been unfortunate in the first half of the season.”

Bailey says the support of the club, including Manager Unai Emery, has been helping him regain his confidence.

“That’s my character,” he said. “I will try to play through and help the team as much as possible. If the coach needs me to be there, I will try to be as ready as possible. Sometimes, you can’t. You have to let your body dictate what you can and can’t do. Sometimes I am pushing myself too much and need to chill. But I am alright now, I am fine and back.

“The manager always tries to give the players confidence. It is not just me, but all the players. He is a great manager. He knows how to get his team going. He knows the players who need to get confidence, who have been struggling. It is teammates as well. Everyone helps play a part in everyone trying to be at their best. He wasn’t saying much, he was just trying to bring confidence.”

Villa is eighth in the EPL on 32 points, 10 points off where they were at this stage last season when they were three points off the league leaders.

But Bailey says the club has what it takes to be in a strong position at the end of the season.

“It wasn’t the best first part of the season but hopefully in the second half we can turn things around and get back to where we need to be,” he said. “Sometimes you struggle but the most important thing is we are still there. That is a team showing character and sometimes you have teams who do well one season and fall off completely in the second.

“We are still there, we are still in the race, still competing to finish in the European positions. We are really happy with our process so far but we know we have a long way to go. But we are confident we can be there.”

The Jamaican’s next outing is set for Friday when Villa take on West Ham in the FA Cup third round.