Alan Hutton: Aston Villa may need to manage player workload better

We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…

Alan Hutton feels Aston Villa need to manage players' workloads better as Ludwig Augustinsson was added to the growing injury list at the club.

The Swedish international suffered a hamstring injury in Villa's 0-0 draw against ten-man Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday [2 October].

Hutton has suggested that something may need to change behind the scenes or in training to prevent any more players from being injured.

"Possibly, you never know, when you look at the back four there's a lot of the same faces and these things can happen," Hutton exclusively told Villa News.

"He's a guy that hasn't played a lot of football and been thrown into a high-intensity game and there's been a few injuries on international duty which is nothing to do with Villa's training regime.

"It's maybe something to look into and manage the workloads of each individual better because that's something that was done during my time as a player.

"It's a real shame for him because he's been waiting for an opportunity and to go off with a hamstring injury is not ideal."

Gerrard is said to be "fearing the worst" when it comes to Augustinsson's injury, who was replaced by new signing Jan Bednarek at halftime at Elland Road.

The Villa boss will be desperately hoping for some positive news from the treatment table before Villa travel to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest on Monday [10 October].

In other Aston Villa news, Ace Matty Cash is now in contention to play against his former side