Lee Hendry has slammed Aston Villa keeper Ørjan Nyland after a shaky display in their 2-0 win over Bolton at Villa Park on Friday night.
It was a good win for Villa after back-to-back defeats for their new manager Dean Smith.
But Nyland had a mixed night, looking extremely ropey in the first-half, dropping some easy balls, before making a top-class save early in the second-half to stop a certain Bolton goal.
Talking on the live coverage of the game (Sky Sports, Fri, 7pm), former Aston Villa player Lee Hendry said the new signing was going to have to step up with some huge games coming up for his side.
“I’ve got my question marks over the keeper that are standing out a million miles and he’s going to have to really sort that out for the huge games that are coming up.”
Villa’s next six games are against Derby, Birmingham, Nottingham Forest, Middlesborough, West Brom and Stoke.
OPINION
The next six games are season-defining for Aston Villa. If they can come out of the run of six games with 12 points then they could easily find themselves back in the mix for a promotion place. However, there are big question marks over Nyland, with a lot of Villa fans unhappy with his display between the sticks – not just last night, but all season. Nyland showed exactly why last night. It seemed like he’d dipped his gloves in butter for the first-half and he was unable to hold onto even the most straightforward of crosses. However, he is a good shot-stopper and he proved that early in the second-half. With the score at 1-0, conceding a goal then could have had a disastrous effect on the game for Villa. That’s what he’s there for and if he can start to get a grip inside his box, the 28-year-old could finally live up to his £2.7million price tag.