Mile Jedinak filled in at centre-back for Aston Villa’s clash with Wigan Athletic at the weekend.
Aston Villa’s Mile Jedinak
James Chester has heaped praise upon the way that Mile Jedinak settled in to his new role at the heart of the Aston Villa defence, the Birmingham Mail reports.
Jedinak has arguably been the most impressive and most consistent player in Steve Bruce’s squad this season, and he demonstrated once again, what an excellent signing he was in the summer as he played alongside Chester at centre-back for their clash with Wigan at the weekend.
And while there was one nervy moment for the Australian, he generally performed well to help the Villans keep another clean sheet – their fifth in six games – on their way to a 2-0 win.
But while some may have been slightly apprehensive about Bruce’s decision to drop Jedinak back, Chester has suggested that his solid display came as absolutely no surprise to him given his teammate’s versatility.
Aston Villa’s James Chester
“It’s been good,” he said, as reported by the Mail.
“Mile is a very intelligent footballer and he can play there or in midfield. I don’t think it (changing positions) is ever going to be an issue for him.
“He has been around the game long enough to know what positions he should be in. He has shown that the last two games and we have kept two clean sheets.”
With Villa’s season seemingly looking set to conclude with a mid-table finish – though a continuation of their current run of form will surely see them finish reasonably close to the top six – Bruce may want to consider sticking with Jedinak and Chester for the final games of the campaign if he deems that the former Crystal Palace man’s future lies at centre-back.
Letting the pair develop that understanding further heading into next season will surely hand their hopes of securing promotion next year a significant boost.
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