Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard has admitted that he wanted to bring on Danny Ings against Leeds United – but Ezri Konsa’s red card prevented the change.
Villa played out an entertaining draw with Leeds on Wednesday night, initially falling behind to a Daniel James opener.
Philippe Coutinho took over though, with the Brazilian firing in a superb equaliser for Villa before notching two assists.
Two fine passes from Coutinho allowed Jacob Ramsey to score, putting Villa on course for a big win.
Unfortunately for Villa, James bagged another and Diego Llorente scored from close range to give Leeds a share of the spoils at 3-3.
Villa had to cling on in the end because defender Konsa picked up a second yellow card, blocking Illan Meslier from distributing the ball whilst appearing to strike him with an elbow.
Konsa was sent off with just a couple of minutes remaining, but it seemingly altered Gerrard’s plans for the final minutes.
Konsa being sent off meant defender Calum Chambers had to come on for Ramsey, bolstering the Villa back line for the final stages.
That isn’t the change Gerrard was hoping to make, as he actually wanted to bring on striker Danny Ings to try and go for the win.
Once Konsa was sent off, Gerrard decided to shut up shop rather than go gung-ho, which was probably a wise decision.
Gerrard told Leeds Live that he wanted to ‘twist and gamble’, though just how Ings would have made an impact in just a few minutes is another matter.
Ings, 29, was a big signing for Villa over the summer but has yet to really kickstart his Villa career, scoring just four league goals in 16 outings.
Ollie Watkins appears to be Gerrard’s first-choice striker and Ings seemingly faces a battle to get a starting role in the Villa side.
Gerrard is only playing with one striker up top at the moment, and Ings not even getting off the bench doesn’t lend itself to first-team action.
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