Aston Villa have won five games on the bounce in the Championship.
Sky Sports pundit Liam Rosenior has admitted his ‘surprise’ at Tyrone Mings playing at centre-back for Aston Villa rather than left-back following his move from Bournemouth in January.
Dean Smith snapped up the highly-rated youngster on a loan deal until the end of the season and the versatile defender has been a man mountain at the back for the club.
On Saturday, he scored what proved to be the decisive goal for Villa as they beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 on home soil to win their fifth game on the bounce.
Speaking to EFL Championship Goals on Sky Sports Football (30/03/2019 at 10:25 pm), Rosenior praised Mings but admitted that he expected him to play at full-back when he arrived.
“Good player, Tyrone Mings!” Rosenior told Sky Sports. “Very good young player, he’s been very unfortunate with injuries and he’s shown his real qualities.
“He’s surprised me because I thought he was going to go there as a left-back, but he’s playing as a centre-half and he’s playing really well.”
Throughout the season, Villa have struggled from a defensive standpoint because of injuries and a lack of balance at the back.
James Chester has struggled with knee problems and has not played for the club since January. Manchester United loanee Axel Tuanzebe has arguably been the club’s best performing defender this term, but he hasn’t played since December.
Meanwhile, the experienced Tommy Elphick was brought back from his loan spell in January because of a lack of cover at the back, but he is also on the sidelines with an injury.
Either way, Smith is now beginning to get his squad back to fitness at the right time because if they continue to win games then they will finish in the play-off places.
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