How Alan Hutton’s great performance at left-back for Aston Villa against Wolves could be good for James Bree as well as Steve Bruce.
Alan Hutton of Aston Villa.
On a day of few positives for Aston Villa, Alan Hutton’s performance at left-back during the 2-0 Championship defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers was the biggest for manager Steve Bruce.
With Neil Taylor serving the first game of a three-match suspension and no natural replacement for the Wales international on the left side of defence, Hutton was drafted in for the derby with Wolves.
Neil Taylor of Aston Villa in action during the Sky Bet Championship match against Middlesbrough.
The 32-year-old made his impact early on with a perfectly timed last ditch tackle to deny Helder Costa, although couldn’t stop the Portuguese striker and Diogo Jota scoring the all important goals.
However, Hutton has got Bruce out of a potentially tricky situation, with Taylor also absent from Villa’s upcoming league fixtures with Fulham and Birmingham City.
Having allowed Jordan Amavi and Aly Cissokho to leave the club over the summer, the 56-year-old could well have been criticised if he suddenly had a problem at left-back.
Steve Bruce, manager of Aston Villa.
Hutton’s potential to play on the opposite side of the back line to usual could also be a bonus for James Bree, who has failed to truly assert himself at Villa Park since a January transfer from Brentford.
Bree is rated as one of the most promising youngsters at the club and with Ahmed Elmohamady struggling for form at right-back and Ritchie de Laet having been sparingly used since returning from injury, perhaps the 20-year-old could be given the opportunity.
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