The Villa boss dropped Tshibola from his starting XI at Deepdale.
Aston Villa manager Roberto di Matteo has explained his reasoning for dropping central midfielder Aaron Tshibola from his starting XI for the 2-0 defeat to Preston North End at Deepdale on Saturday, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail.
Tshibola has become an important and popular player at Villa Park since his summer move from Reading, featuring in five of the club’s 11 Championship fixtures and scoring a late equaliser against Newcastle United last weekend.
He then played the full 90 minutes again three days later in the 1-1 draw with Barnsley, but was dropped and remained an unused substitute at Deepdale.
His replacement in the side, Ashley Westwood, endured a horror show of a performance, summed up by his being caught in possession for second Preston goal, and was hauled off at half-time.
With Villa already two down by the break, Di Matteo left Tshibola on the bench, instead leaving Mile Jedinak as the only central midfielder and bringing on two extra strikers in the form of Rudy Gestede and Ross McCormack.
The decision to leave Tshibola out sparked a great deal of frustration amongst Villa fans, but Di Matteo has insisted that he needed to rest the 21-year-old.
The Italian boss said, via the Birmingham Mail: “When you [Tshibola] play three games in seven days… and he just came back from injury as well.
“You’re trying to maybe freshen up the team in some positions where you can and utilise the squad. We’ve done it previously as well.”
Di Matteo also went on to confirm that first-choice goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini was replaced in the side by Mark Bunn due to injury.
He added: “Yes, he [Gollini] picked up a groin strain so he wasn’t available.”
Villa are in dire straits, with 10 points from 11 games, and Di Matteo is coming under increasing pressure from fans, with the media now beginning to intensify the scrutiny.
The club and the manager need an improvement desperately if they are to save their season and prevent a second catastrophic campaign in a row.
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