The Aston Villa defender was left among the substitutes on Saturday to cap a difficult run of form.
Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce has admitted to the Birmingham Mail he was pained to leave out Tommy Elphick against Preston North End.
The former skipper has endured a difficult first season at Villa Park since arriving from Bournemouth although his work ethic behind the scenes and impact in the dressing room has proven invaluable, keeping spirits high at a club that has endured its fair share of lows in recent seasons.
Elphick’s displays on the pitch, however, have been a different story with the centre-back failing to convince Villa fans that he deserves a place in the starting line-up after a number of below-par performances.
And Bruce took no pleasure in demoting the former captain to the bench for Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Preston after Nathan Baker, who has impressed alongside first-choice centre-back James Chester, returned from injury.
“I had to drop Tommy Elphick on Saturday and that absolutely killed me,” Bruce told the Birmingham Mail.
“He’s the right type, trains every day, works hard. But he’s not in the team, he’s a delight. It kills me to leave him out, but I have to pick the team I think’s best.”
It’s difficult to argue with Bruce’s intuition, however. Though Baker and Chester conceded twice in the 2-2 draw with Preston, Villa’s defence has looked a lot more solid without Elphick in the starting line-up.
He may be a priceless dressing room presence but the fact that he has started six of Villa’s seven league defeats is no coincidence.
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