OPINION
Mile Jedinak looked miles off the pace during Aston Villa’s clash with Preston North End and Steve Bruce needs to stop playing the midfielder so often if he wants the Villans to win promotion.
The 33-year-old Australian international lumbered his way through Aston Villa’s 1-1 draw with Preston on Tuesday, and despite looking like he was trying his best, couldn’t keep up with the pace of the game.
Jedinak was not directly responsible for the Villans’ failure to win but he didn’t aid their cause in anyway, as the game exposed his weakness.
It was very telling that Aston Villa, who went 1-0 down, were only able to get back in the game once the younger legs of Lewis Grabban and Keinan Davis were brought on at half time.
The Australian international may have stayed on the pitch alongside them, but their pace just made him look even more like a passenger in the game.
Now Jedinak has generally performed well in the 16 appearances he has made this season, however he has looked his best when used in small doses.
The 33-year-old’s defensive qualities help tie up games already won, and he’s able to match the speed of a game when asked to do it for a fraction of the 90 minutes.
It was telling that this latest performance was one of his worst of the campaign, due to the fact he had played 67 minutes only mere days ago, against Fulham.
The aging midfielder’s legs clearly cannot cope with playing two games in four days with Bruce needing to realise this.
This why the Villans boss needs to brutally axe the midfielder from being a regular fixture in his side as Jedinak’s lack of pace will soon be taken advantage of by Aston Villa’s upcoming opposition.
The 2-0 defeat to Fulham on Saturday caused the Villans to drop out of the automatic promotion places, and the draw with Preston left them a point behind second placed Cardiff City, with the Bluebirds having a game in hand.
So given the intensity and closeness of the race to win promotion to the Premier League, Aston Villa can’t enable themselves to have weaknesses in their side that will cause them to drop any more points.
Therefore Bruce must drop Jedinak from his team if he wants the Villans’ promotion bid to stay on track.