Dean Ashton revealed that he is not convinced by the signings Aston Villa made in January nor is he certain that they will be able to get into the Championship play-offs.
The Sky Sports pundit claimed that while Tyrone Mings could be a good signing due to being able to play at left-back, he was concerned that he may have fitness issues that will take time to get over.
Ashton also added that while he tipped the Villans for promotion at the start of the season, he wasn’t convinced that they would even make the play-offs due to their defensive problems.
“I’m not convinced actually,” Ashton told Football League World.
“I haven’t looked at those signings and gone yes, they’ll make the difference.
“Mings could be that with his physical stature but he’s not played a lot games with fitness issues and so you’re hoping that he can get over that and that he’ll be up to if for the rest of the season.
“He can play left-back which is a bonus but I’m not sure and I tipped Villa to go up but I’m not convinced that they have done enough to shore up the defence to get them into the top six.”
OPINION
Ashton clearly regrets predicting promotion for the Villans this season based on his remarks and all but distances himself from his original tip. It would be terrible for Villans supporters if their side didn’t even make the play-offs this season especially after reaching the play-off final in their 2017/18 campaign only to lose to Fulham. If the Villans don’t get a top-six finish this season then it would just suggest that they’re a club is going backwards. While manager Dean Smith can’t take a lot of the blame as he hasn’t been in the hotseat for the whole season, he is probably at risk of leaving the club in the summer if the Villans don’t make the play-offs. It’s fair to say he should be worried about that scenario developing as to be honest it’s hard disagree with Ashton over the Villans’ defence. The Sky pundit is spot-on to suggest the Villans defence doesn’t look worthy of helping them finish in the top-six and unless Tammy Abraham can score an incredible amount of goals to paper over the crack, it seems Villans fans shouldn’t be holding out for the play-offs.