Aston Villa man Tyrone Mings allays retirement fears with rehab video following cryptic Instagram post

Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings says he's not retiring despite fears over his future in the game after a cryptic social media post.

Mings has been on the sidelines since rupturing his ACL during Villa's 5-1 defeat at Newcastle on the opening weekend of the season.

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The England international was fitted with a knee brace before being stretchered off in the first half with an injury that is likely to rule him out for the remainder of the campaign.

The 30-year-old took to Instagram on Tuesday to post a cryptic message about his recovery, stating he would give supporters further information later in the day.

Mings posted a black and white picture of himself with his head looking to the ground alongside the caption: "Grateful for all your support. I'll share an update with you all later today."

Fans were left fearing the worst over the defender’s future in the game.

To add to the intrigue, Mings deleted all but one of his Instagram photos with the only one remaining being an image of him being stretched off at Newcastle.

One fan wrote: “Doesn't sound positive. Hope I'm wrong.”

Another added: “I hope he doesn't have to retire.”

A third wrote: “I will cry my eyes out for Tyrone Mings if this is bad news.”

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A fourth fan added: “That Tyrone Mings post looks ominous. Game over? I really hope not!”

However, talkSPORT's Tom Ross revealed that any suggestion Mings is retiring is wide of the mark and the player was at the club’s Bodymoor Heath Training Ground on Tuesday continuing with his rehabilitation as he targets a return to first-team action.

And Mings himself has also moved to confirm he's got no plans to retire just yet as he posted a video captioned: "Can’t get rid of me that easy! You’re all helping me way more than you realise [purple heart emoji]."

The video shows him undergoing another exercises at a facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as he looks to progress his recovery.

He said in the video: “I just wanted to start things off by saying thank you so much for all the messages people have sent me, I’ve read pretty much every single one.

“The cards, gifts in the post, tweets, everything has been so appreciated and has helped me through this early stage and I just want to share some bits with you as to what I’m up to.”

Mings appeared out of favour at Villa Park after the arrival of Unai Emery in late 2022 but the Three Lions star worked his way back into contention before suffering the injury.

The tough-tackling centre-back has played 166 times for Aston Villa and has been capped 18 times by England.