Aston Villa will be hoping to do the double over Birmingham City on Sunday.
Aston Villa could make two changes to their starting XI when they make the short trip to Small Heath to take on their bitter rivals Birmingham City on Sunday.
Dean Smith confirmed on Villa’s official Twitter account that centre-back Elphick will miss the Second City derby after he injured his heel during his side’s 4-0 win against Derby County.
The other player that could, unfortunately, find himself watching on from the bench is Glenn Whelan because John McGinn, who was suspended for the last two fixtures, is now back and free to play.
Therefore, it leaves Smith with a huge selection dilemma in the middle of the park. Star man Jack Grealish is a certainty. Conor Hourihane netted a brace against the Rams. As a result, it leaves Whelan and the returning McGinn to battle it out for that final spot.
During the reverse fixture in November, when Villa won 4-2, Whelan played in the number 6 role and struggled in the opening half an hour as he lost possession on a number of occasions. Not forgetting that McGinn didn’t play in that game either.
Therefore, Smith should stick McGinn in the team ahead of Whelan because prior to his suspension, he was one of Villa’s standout players and a midfield three of Grealish, Hourihane and McGinn increases their chances of winning.
Other than that, left-back Neil Taylor should come into the starting XI and play in his natural position, with Kortney Hause potentially moving across as a centre-back to play alongside Tyrone Mings.
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