Aston Villa are sitting in the Premier League’s relegation zone ahead of their clash against fellow strugglers Norwich City on Boxing Day.
Micah Richards has urged Aston Villa to start Jonathan Kodjia against Norwich City on Boxing Day, as he stated that injuries ‘worry’ him and the players ‘lack of concentration’ during the end of games is hurting them.
The former Villa centre-back shared that John Terry will be telling the players to ‘switch on’ because they need to cut out the second-half goals they are conceding.
Over the weekend, Villa suffered a damaging defeat to fellow relegation strugglers Southampton, who put three past Dean Smith’s side.
Speaking to Football Daily on BBC Radio 5 Live (23/12/19), Richards shares what worries him about Villa and why they now need to start Kodjia.
“I’m not worried about Villa, I am worried about the injuries,” Richards told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Losing Mings and losing McGinn, three months that’s a massive blow.
“I think Villa need to start playing Kodjia. I think Wesley has had enough time in the team to show what he can do. We all know what Kodjia can do. He can be hit and miss, at times as well. But when a striker isn’t playing well and is low on confidence, sometimes you just have to change it up a little bit.
“I am worried now only because of injuries. I think they have enough quality in the way they play in order to get out of this rut – have you watched a lot of Villa’s games this season? They have actually done really well. It’s only in the second half, they are conceding late on, so that just says to me it’s a concentration thing. They have John Terry, who will be telling them ‘you have got to switch on here’.”
Kodjia initially joined Villa for £15 million in 2016 [BBC Sport] when they had just been relegated to the Championship. He smashed it in his first full season, as he narrowly missed out on hitting the 20-goal mark because of an injury.
That injury carried its way into the following campaign, as he spent most of the season on the sidelines and then trying to find his sharpness back as Villa reached the play-off finals only to lose to Fulham.
Last season, Tammy Abraham was ahead of him in the pecking order, as he played more of a squad role under Bruce and Smith. And during this campaign, his game time has reduced further. But with the struggles, Wesley is going through there are now calls for Kodjia to start.
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