Advertisement

Are Villa missing a 'settled back four'?

Aston Villa's goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez cuts out a cross
[Getty Images]

Former Aston Villa forward Garry Thompson told BBC Radio West Midlands how important it is to have a settled defence.

Aston Villa's three-match winning run came to an end after they conceded twice late on to lose 2-1 at Nottingham Forest.

"If you're going to do well you need a settled back four," he said. "You make the odd change here and there and obviously you need to give players minutes but you've got to have a settled back four and build from there.

"We've got the best goalkeeper in the world but the keeper needs to have confidence in his back four and the back four needs to have confidence in the keeper - it builds from there.

"We've got [Boubacar] Kamara who's playing ever so well now he's come back from injury, protecting the back four. We should be able to keep clean sheets."

On who should start up front, he added: "I know he's carrying a bit of an injury but I'd keep going with Ollie [Watkins] and then throw [Jhon] Duran on with 20 minutes to go."

Listen back on BBC Sounds

An image detailing how to follow your Premier League team on BBC Sport: "On the app? Tap the bell icon to get news about your club sent to you. Signed in on a browser? Hit 'Follow' to stay up to date.
[BBC]