Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert has confirmed that Nathan Baker suffered concussion in the 2-1 loss to Arsenal and believes that his forced withdrawal played a major part in their downfall.
The centre-back was struck in the face by a Serge Gnabry shot in the first half at Villa Park on Monday and left the field on a stretcher as a precaution.
Shortly in the aftermath of Baker's substitution, the Gunners scored twice within the space of a minute to seize control of the match, although Lambert was delighted with his side's second-half response.
Christian Benteke halved Arsenal's lead to end a goal drought which had stretched back to September and spark a late Villa rally, but they could not snatch a draw and Lambert feels that the head injury to Baker, which is not serious, contributed heavily to them conceding what turned out to be an unassailable deficit.
"In the first half, we lost Nathan at a really poor time and that rocked us a bit," he told Sky Sports News. "The two goals, one after the other, puts you on the back foot, but the response in the second half, I can't compliment us high enough for that.
"Nathan's okay, I've spoken to him. He couldn't remember a thing and, when you get concussion, it's dangerous, so the best thing is to take him off.
"He was out cold and concussed, which was a blow for us as he's been playing well. You've got to readjust and we got caught with two poor goals."
Baker has started Villa's last eight Premier League games, and 15 in total this season.
Joe Fish
