The Aston Villa defender put in a fine showing on the left last weekend.
Neil Taylor’s suspension left Aston Villa manager with an interesting choice to make ahead of his side’s clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers, and he opted to pick the much-maligned Alan Hutton ahead of Ritchie de Laet.
Hutton is not what you would call a fan favourite at Villa Park, and he has fallen out of favour this season, with Ahmed Elmohamady taking his natural position on the right. But with the latter struggling himself in recent weeks, what chance a return to the old guard for the challenges to come?
After all, Neil Taylor’s return from suspension need not mean that Hutton slips into the ether once more. In fact, such was the latter’s performance against Wolves that it would be crazy to cast him aside so soon.
Instead, Hutton should replace Elmohamady on the opposite flank, with the Egypt international’s defensive nous coming under scrutiny in recent weeks, even if he does do a job going forward.
Villa need their full squad at their disposal in the months ahead as they bid to mount a serious promotion push, selecting the players that are performing well and deserving of a place, not simply sticking to the same XI week in, week out.
Hutton proved on Saturday that he is not a spent force just yet, and Villa wuld be wise to utilise that to their benefit.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
