Credit: Imago

James Barker

Sun 12 April 2026 18:10, UK

Aston Villa need more than what they’re getting with Matty Cash if Unai Emery is to take the team to another level.

The 28-year-old started as Aston Villa travelled to The City Ground to take on Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

It turned out to be a highly frustrating afternoon at the office for Emery’s side, as the relegation strugglers held Champions League-chasing Villa to a 1-1 draw.

The precedent was set for a disappointing day when Emi Martinez withdrew from the starting lineup before the game, and that carried on into the match.

Attentions now momentarily turn back to their Europa League campaign, with a quarter-final second leg tie against Bologna at Villa Park on Thursday.

How did Matty Cash perform vs Nottingham Forest?

Cash has not been playing well for club or country over the last few weeks, as he was poor against Bologna in the quarter-final first leg, and put in two disappointing displays for Poland during the March internationals.

So, a game against Forest looked to be a perfect opportunity for the right-back to get back to his best against his former team, but that didn’t happen.

He was booked after just 11 minutes of the match, and was walking a tightrope for the rest of the game from that point onwards.

Indeed, Emery decided to hook him in stoppage time at the end of the second half, throwing the sparsely seen Andres Garcia on in his place.

That wasn’t a great look for Cash, and his underlying stats prove just how poor he was against Forest.

As per Sofascore, he made zero tackle attempts, won one of his three ground duels, made zero key passes and not one of his seven cross attempts were accurate.

Cash also made no successful dribble attempts, had only two progressive carries, gave possession away 20 times and was also caught offside on one occasion respectively.

He looked a shell of the dangerous and creative full-back Villa fans have seen plenty of from him in the past, and can probably count himself lucky to stay on the pitch for as long as he did before being withdrawn.

Villa have to decide whether they can kick on with Cash

Aston Villa will reach an interesting crossroad in the football club’s recent history this summer.

Villa Park chiefs must decide what they want this team to be moving forward. Are they content with being perennial European football contenders, or do they want to try and really push for Premier League titles?

If it’s the former of those two, then keeping Cash as your starting right-back would probably be fine, as he’s still a talented player and has proven Premier League experience.

However, if there is a burning ambition at B6 to be able to stay the course in a title race, then the Polish international is not providing enough current evidence to suggest an upgrade couldn’t/shouldn’t be found this summer.