Aston Villa defender Matty Cash expects ’emotional’ Nottingham Forest contest
Aston Villa travel to Nottingham Forest on Monday (10 October) with defender Matty Cash returning to his old stomping ground.
The newly-promoted Reds currently sit rock bottom of the Premier League with four points while the Villans lie mid-table after going three games unbeaten.
Cash, a Poland international, made his big breakthrough at the City Ground as a central midfielder before being moved to right-back and then purchased by Villa.
“It will be emotional going back but I will be more excited than ever to play there,” Cash said to The Mirror. “I had a really good time at Forest and came through the academy.
“It played a massive part in my career. We had a decent academy team with Ryan Yates, Joe Worrall, Oliver Burke, Tyler Walker and a close group.
“We all played in the FA Youth Cup and did well and then broke into the first team together. When I left it was an agreement all parties came to. Taking the opportunity to come to the Premier League wasn’t something I could turn down and for Forest, they needed money at the time.”
Point to prove
Cash’s ability was way beyond where Forest found themselves when he completed his move to Villa Park but now his former side have got themselves into the promised land.
This will be the first time he has gone back to play against the Reds and he will be the most determined man in an Aston Villa shirt to get a good result under the lights.
Steven Gerrard is unlikely to be cautious with him having only just recovered from an injury with no other right-back options other than Ashley Young, who is needed at left-back.
Whether he is fully fit or not, Cash has to go in full-blooded for every tackle because Steve Cooper will be instructing his players to make his life as difficult as possible with the home crowd behind them.
But he is still a level above Cooper’s side at the moment and if he is at his best on Monday evening, then that will remain the case and he will get the last laugh.
In other Aston Villa news, Gerrard has to set his side up to exploit a severe weakness in Dean Henderson’s game just as Leicester did.