I know many fans won’t be too upset if we get beaten tonight and I fully understand that by far the main priority is to survive in the Premier league.
I suspect the club hierarchy and Dean Smith will also be thinking the same and it’s again understood, as it’s where the money is.
And while I know we’re going to change things up and rotate the squad, I hope we still try and put a decent side out. We do of course have very decent back up, but what I mean is, I don’t want to see us put too many kids in.
Steer will replace Heaton, Taylor replaces Targett (maybe? Targett’s not played much till now), Hause comes in, probably with Konsa and Davis will also start (this would be a good game to try him with Wesley, in my opinion, but I don’t think it will happen).
It’s what’s going to happen in midfield that intrigues me.
Grealish is out, so can we afford to rest McGinn too, given that the pair are the mainstay of the midfield?
Hourihane will obviously come in for Grealish, but does Lansbury offer enough to replace McGinn?
They’re different players, I know, but I’m just a bit concerned that we’d miss McGinn’s energy and drive.
That said, the odds are that McGinn will be injured or suspended at some stage, so perhaps it’s a good time to experiment.
Oh Jota’s out too, so that’s another option less.
Whatever, while it won’t be the end of the world if we do get knocked out, there will be another full house at Villa park and I just think it would be a shame.
Smith has a balancing game to play, in trying to get through and resting players, but I hope he doesn’t concede this game too easily, as seeing as Wolves will rotate too, this is emminently winnable.
It’s hard to predict this one, as we don’t know what teams we’re going to see, but a wild guess says we’ll win it 2-1.
I believe the game is being shown on ESPN1 in the US, so hopefully streams will be available.
