Tony Pulis has stated on Sky Sports (26/09/20 at 2:20 pm) that he’s ‘not sure’ whether Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings is a ‘big, powerful, robust’ centre-half.
Aston Villa will take on newly-promoted Fulham tonight and the former West Brom boss has backed Aleksandar Mitrovic to get the better of Mings.
Standing at 6ft4, it’s not easy winning a physical tussle with Mings, who has become an England international over the course of the past 12 months.
But the defensive-specialist, Pulis, thinks that Mings is all about what he does with the ball rather than what you associate with a defender of his size.
“I like Mitrovic, he’s a handful,” Pulis told Sky Sports. “He’s one of them who can be a nuisance for 90 minutes and he’s a good finisher. You get balls into the box, his heading ability and his finishing ability is very, very good.
“Mings is a decent player. Is he a big, powerful, robust centre-half? I’m not sure. I think he’s got a little bit more about him in possession. I think he’s got good pace. Physically, I think Mitrovic would just have the edge on him.”
Mings helped Villa record a 1-0 win against Sheffield United last time out, as his glancing header from a set-piece was finished off by his partner in crime, Ezri Konsa.
It’s a set-piece that would have had Pulis out of his seat because he has been a master of them during his days in the Premier League.
Dean Smith will be hoping for more of the same from his players as they bid to make it two wins from two after a pretty topsy-turvy 2019/20 campaign.
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