Aston Villa take on Burnley on Saturday afternoon, and there was a surprise omission as Matty Cash didn’t make the matchday squad.
The 26-year-old served a one-match suspension in midweek as we suffered defeat at Man Utd, and the expectation was that he would certainly at least return to the squad this weekend.
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While he wasn’t named in the Villa XI, he was absent from the bench against Vincent Kompany’s side too, and that in turn raised eyebrows as to why he wasn’t involved at all.
As per the Express & Star’s Matt Maher, the Polish international misses out due to illness, dismissing any suggestions that he had perhaps been left out due to a decision from Unai Emery.
Cash has made 26 appearances so far this season, scoring three goals and providing two assists, and although he has had a dip in form in recent weeks, he remains an important option for the Villa boss.
Particularly at home in a game where we may need energy, pace and penetration to try and unlock a stubborn Burnley defence, his absence will be a blow, as Ezri Konsa will continue to fill in at right-back.
Injuries and suspensions have certainly taken a toll in recent weeks as our absentee list builds, and so while Cash may well have not started this game regardless of his availability, we will undoubtedly benefit from having as much of the squad available moving forward to try and build on a promising first half of the campaign.
Our fixture list does become less hectic moving forward fortunately, with our next game coming against away at Middlesbrough in the FA Cup next weekend, before our next Premier League outing is at Everton on January 14.