Aston Villa: Lucas Digne blamed for France defeat vs Ivory Coast as 'sluggish' defender struggles

Aston Villa's Lucas Digne had a night to forget as France fell to a 2-1 defeat against Ivory Coast.

World Cup preparations are in full swing, with many Villa players out on international duty before the tournament in North America.

It is the highest honour any footballer can have by starting for their nation in the sports biggest showcase.

For Digne, he is fighting a tough battle to gain starting spot in Didier Deschamps' starting lineup.

If the game against Ivory Coast was the Villa man's audition, it appears he has failed to make the needed impression.

How French media rated Lucas Digne vs Ivory Coast

Digne is not France's starting left-back, but he will be hoping that after the successful season he had with Aston Villa, he has an improved chance to take that spot.

If the lineups for France's friendly against Ivory Coast is anything to go by, the 32-year-old will once again be a back-up option.

Digne started on the bench for the French national side, but was handed 45 minutes to make a case to start in what was his 56th cap, but he may have done the opposite.

Footmercato awarded Digne a four out of 10 for his display, stating he "didn't have the expected impact. He seemed sluggish, less explosive than Theo Hernandez. Not alert enough on Ivory Coast's first goal, and caught out by the opposition's numerical advantage on the second."

Meanwhile, L'Equipe has echoed those sentiments, also giving Digne a four match rating.

The French outlet states: "The energetic Aston Villa full-back delivered two or three accurate crosses. But on the first Ivory Coast goal, he wasn't reactive enough in front of [Desire] Doue and was also out of position on the second..."

Overall, Digne will be hoping his performance off the bench has not negatively impacted his chances to start the World Cup.

He will be slightly relieved that teammate Lucas Hernandez was not much better. He received a five out of 10 from both aforementioned outlets.

How stats portray Digne's performance for France

Digne was ultimately second best in his battles against Ivory Coast. He won just two out of his eight contested duels.

Meanwhile, going forward he completed just one out of five attempted dribbles.

However, he did create two chances and ended the game with an 89 per cent passing accuracy, according to Sofascore.

Crossing wise, he was quite active by putting eight balls into the box. But only two of these landed in the path of a teammate.

Statistics wise, he was not terrible, but as shared by the French outlets, those key moments where Ivory Coast scored two goals are not shown in the data, and that is ultimately the most important part.