Aston Villa v Wolves - Liam Keen and Nathan Judah preview
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00:00Hello I'm Nathan Judah, I'm here with Wolves reporters, Mr. Liam Keane, Liam we've heard
00:14from Mr. Gary O'Neill, head of the big West Midlands Derby. It is Aston Villa against
00:20Wolverhampton Wanderers at Villa Park, 3pm kick-off. I'm sure plenty of you will be there.
00:25Let's start with team news straight away. Let's start with two defenders in Ryan Aitnori
00:30and Totti Gomez. What's the situation regarding them two?
00:36Yes, Totti missed the last two games, Newcastle and Brighton with a tight hamstring. Gary
00:40did say after the Newcastle game he felt he would be available for Villa. Then Aitnori
00:45rolled his ankle against Newcastle and he came off in that game. The same ankle I believe
00:50it was they had a knock with last season as well, so obviously a little bit of a concern.
00:54Gary said they'd ended a lot of training this week, they're going to train later today
01:00after the press conference to see how they get on and see how much they can actually
01:03do in training and it'll be a bit of a late call to see how they play. I think we can
01:07say though, I think Aitnori's doing an interview with Scott, we like to say that aren't we?
01:11Oh you've said it.
01:12I've said it now. So I've got a little sneaky feeling that maybe both of them might not
01:19be out. If they are out, Matt Doherty will be left back I'm sure.
01:22Hugo Bonner?
01:23Yeah, that's the problem. And if they are both out it's not a good thing for Wolves
01:26because first of all they're two good players, secondly it's in a position and area of the
01:31pitch that Wolves are going to be lighting so Matt Doherty's going to have to fill in.
01:35I felt he did okay actually the other night and he's probably going to need to step into
01:42some big shoes if he's not available. Other than that, you know, Bentley's ill and unavailable
01:46albeit Johnson will start. That was about it wasn't it? If Bellagard's available, I
01:52did ask about that because Mr Brian Gembley said they had a knee issue from the end of
01:56last season and they're still managing. It takes longer to recover but there's no issue
02:00there, he should be fine. And if Aitnori isn't playing, depending on the system, Bellagard
02:04probably starts doesn't he?
02:05Yeah, potentially. Look, I mean there's a few people who put themselves in a position
02:09to start I guess. One of those people who I guess is pushing, and look Gary O'Neill
02:14loves speaking about him, was Gonzalo Guedes. Now probably maybe from the bench you think
02:18if he has any guests on the team but at the same time he's glowing references from Gary
02:23O'Neill on Guedes today and more I'm sure you'll read in the Express and Star tomorrow.
02:30Can Guedes get a starting spot, a regular starting spot in this team and if so where?
02:35It feels like a tough ask. Not because of anything he's done but because of who's ahead
02:40of him at the moment.
02:41There's a lot of fans wanting to start. When things aren't going well you look at the people
02:46who are scoring a goal and obviously Gonzalo Guedes, we never thought he'd be in this position
02:50I think a year, two years ago even. But he is and it seems like they've integrated him
02:56well and he is at the forefront of Gary O'Neill's mind. Maybe not starting but maybe as a first
03:00option off the bench.
03:01And I think he has done well and I think we'll see that be rewarded with more minutes. Gary
03:06pretty much confirmed that because of injuries he's had previously that playing 80 minutes
03:11against Brighton on Wednesday means he isn't going to start against Villa. It wouldn't
03:15surprise me because he's one of the first names off the bench though with players like
03:17Wang out of form, Rodrigo Gomez and Lima did well against Brighton as well. You'd expect
03:22Lima to probably not be in the squad unless one of the injuries means there's a space.
03:26But Rodrigo Gomez maybe asking for a spot. It does feel like a tough ask at the moment
03:30for Guedes to get a starting berth because Larsson's done nothing wrong to lose his place.
03:34If he's going to play, probably play central. Gary seems to like Guedes there. He can play
03:38wide obviously but I think he likes him in that position and he's very much a different
03:41kind of striker. If you're going to play a team that's playing a high line and maybe
03:45not the most athletic of defenders, then Guedes running in behind would be a good option.
03:49I'm not sure he's going to get that at the moment. However, he will start Premier League
03:53games this season. He will start eventually at least one game. I mean, that's a crazy
03:57outlandish call for me, but I do think that Gary likes him. As you say, we've seen from
04:01the way he's been used, albeit maybe not as much off the bench in the league as we would
04:04have expected, but the way that it talks about him, there's a player that he's been really
04:07pleased with what he's done. I do think he's going to be one of the first names off the
04:12bench provided he's fit and available against Villa tomorrow.
04:16Gary O'Neill also said he despises losing. We don't like losing. Bad losers. I think
04:22you have to be bad losers when you're in this game. There's a lot at stake. One point from
04:26four games, of course you go to Aston Villa as underdogs. Some people coined the phrase
04:32I guess when Gary O'Neill spoke the other night at Brighton. He says he fully expects
04:37them to go to Aston Villa and win, and Liverpool and win. I'm sure he said that about every
04:40game because you have to do that. You have to push towards that. At the same time, can
04:44they go there and win? Or if you give Gary O'Neill a 1-1 tomorrow, is he taking it?
04:49Maybe. Maybe. Look, Gary's sort of, in this press conference, changed tact a little bit.
04:55I think he's been trying to be realistic in previous press conferences and after games
04:59and after frustrating losses to say, look at the fixture list, look how tough it is.
05:03He was a bit more bullish today and said, look, regardless of the fixtures, and yes
05:06they are tough fixtures, we've got enough quality, we should be getting results and
05:11there's no excuse for not winning football matches. And I think fans are going to respond
05:17to that more than his previous comments. Hence why maybe a little bit of a shift in his attitude
05:22towards it, or at least his public attitude towards it. But look, he's a competitive guy.
05:26He's played at the top level. He wants to win, as does everyone. And he needs a win
05:30as well. Neither of us, we've said it multiple times, believe that he's under any pressure
05:34at the moment, regardless of results. But you still have to keep performances high,
05:38which have been, relatively, in patches at least.
05:41I would say in patches, I wouldn't say completely.
05:43I agree with that. I mean, second half Brighton, first half, definitely not. So it's in patches.
05:48You have to keep that up and improve on that, obviously. But results have to come eventually,
05:53whether it's at the weekend, whether it's Liverpool, whether it's Britain, it's got
05:55to happen. So it's a big opportunity for Wolves. Look, Villar played midweek, didn't make a
06:00lot of changes because it was their Champions League bow, obviously. That will hopefully
06:05play a little bit of a part. Wolves are going to go there and play a strong team, obviously,
06:09play their first team, make a lot of changes for midweek. They've got a good opportunity
06:13tomorrow. It's not an easy game. It's not an easy atmosphere. But Wolves, as an emotional
06:16side that we keep talking about, I would like to think, are going to feed off that energy
06:20a little bit.
06:21Yeah, you can talk about that narrative in midweek and three games in six days, but when
06:23you make 10 changes, you can't really go back to that. You know, you're going to be making
06:26a lot of changes. You're going to have your first team playing, it's Aston Villar. Like
06:29you say, Villar played against a team midweek, we won't go back to, but watch the post-match
06:33Brighton video if you want a bit of a laugh. At the same time, to go there, what they are
06:39going to have to do, Liam, is defend a hell of a lot better than what they have been doing,
06:43and that's very important.
06:44Yeah, absolutely. Dawson playing is going to be a big part of that. I don't think Bueno
06:47or Alfie Pond did particularly badly. I mean, Bueno, the second goal at Brighton didn't
06:52cover himself in glory, but they did okay. But I think Mosquero and Dawson coming back
06:57in is going to be big for Wolves. Samedo will start, as we say, it could be Dochert
07:01left back, Totti, Aignori, it could be anyone at the moment.
07:03But let's say Aignori and Totti are both available, let's go through, you started to do it there,
07:08so let's maybe go through that team, what you think the Gary and Matt might choose.
07:11Yeah, I think if they are available, it's probably picked itself. Johnston goal, Samedo,
07:15Mosquero, Dawson, Totti. Don't catch eyes with them over there, don't worry about it.
07:21People are off camera, desperate to make us laugh. Then you'll probably look at Lamina
07:27and Jauko, but obviously the formation where Lamina plays is going to impact that.
07:31Harsh on Tommy Doyle?
07:32Yes, I thought he played very well second half, but at the same time, there's three
07:37very good midfielders coming in, so I can't really have too many complaints. And then
07:41Larsson, he's trying to make me laugh, look at him. Larsson, Aignori, if he's available,
07:47plays off the flank if not Bellicard's involved. So, look, they've got options, they've definitely
07:50got options. The players, as you say, with Guedes, we were trying to force their way
07:53in.
07:54In terms of prediction, score, shall I go first? Haddock Hearts. I can't remember what
07:59I did in the podcast now.
08:00I was just about to say, I've got no idea what I said in the podcast, so I'm probably
08:02going to contradict it. I know what we both said, we both said the same thing again.
08:06Oh, we did, we did, we did.
08:07I know exactly what we said.
08:08It's 11-2 with the bookmakers, if we're talking about bookmakers. It's Aston Villa 1, let's
08:13get a cheeky Wolverhampton Wanderers 1, do you reckon?
08:16That's exactly what I said.
08:17We'll take it.
08:18I'll take that for sure.
08:19We'll both be at Villa Park as well. It's Aston Villa against Wolves for all the build-up
08:22on this one.
08:23Make sure you log on to expressthestar.com.