By Richard Wakefield
Party in Preston?
With a Sam Winnall equaliser coming in the closing stages of Villa’s midweek exploits at Oakwell, the disappointing draw with Barnsley has put Villa boss Roberto Di Matteo under serious pressure.
With a trip to Deepdale awaiting Villa before the international break, a win against Preston could instil some much needed optimism for the Villa faithful over the next two weeks.
When a team has only racked up one win in 10 league games this season (lets not even mention last season), then help is needed to find a way to win. Here’s three ways that Villa can beat Preston North End…
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1. Youthful Spark
Di Matteo has called upon Ayew, Kodjia, Grealish and McCormack to lead the front line with Gestede being used as the main impact player from the bench. However it may be time to shake things up a but and throw Preston a curveball and add some unpredictable youth players to the first team.
Andre Green and Hepburn-Murphy are arguably Villa’s most talented youngsters who are looking to push into the first team set up. This is evident through their frequent additions to Aston Villa’s bench, unfortunately, it usually stays that way.
With very minimal opportunities at the end of games, Green and Hepburn-Murphy have struggled to make any significant impact so far. Yet recently, evidence shows that when Hepburn-Murphy comes on, good things happen. Villa beat Telford in preseason, after they were 1-0 down and struggling until Hepburn-Murphy sparked things up. Also, against Newcastle, he helped lead the charge for the equaliser.
A chance to start in the Championship alongside more experienced players could not only catch Simon Grayson out, but fuel the young lads with enough confidence to give a performance that will give Di Matteo something else to think about when choosing his line-ups.
Follow Richard Wakefield on Twitter at @_RichardAVFC
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