Aston Villa star Ezri Konsa could be forced into new role as England blow emerges

Aston Villa could watch on in frustration as Ezri Konsa could now be misused at the World Cup.

The 28-year-old has long been the go-to man in the heart of the defence in claret and blue.

He has grown massively since his move from Brentford and is as close as a guaranteed starter as possible under Unai Emery.

That has translated onto the international stage where he has featured regularly at camps with the Three Lions.

Thomas Tuchel has continued that trend into the World Cup where the Villa man has faced some criticism.

Konsa could now see his tournament disrupted as injury strikes the England camp in Kansas.

Ezri Konsa could face position change after England injury

The debate moving into the showpiece event in North America was about the centre of defence for Tuchel.

He has John Stones and Marc Guehi there with the Villa ace to choose from for his pairing.

The opener kicked off against Croatia with Stones and Konsa, before Guehi replaced his ex-Man City teammate against Ghana.

The ex-Charlton man performed well in both racking up a combined, even after being called into just two defensive actions combined.

He could now prove to be the biggest threat to his own tournament as he could soon be asked to play at right-back.

Reports have emerged from the England camp revealing that Reece James is absent from training as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

The Chelsea skipper is on an individual regime, but misses out after seemingly picking up a problem against Ghana.

Given that Konsa has featured on the right of a back four under Emery, he could be called on by Tuchel this summer.

How has Konsa fared at right-back for Aston Villa?

The Englishman is no stranger to playing at full-back, but hasn't done so since the 2024/25 season.

He deputised for Matty Cash regularly and made 11 appearances as a right-back that year.

That took his career tally upto 66 outings in that position, but that equates to just 16 per cent of his career games.

Arguably his best performance in the role came in Villa's 1-0 win against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Despite being up against Kingsley Coman and then Jamal Musiala, he helped to keep a clean sheet.

Konsa won three tackles while chipping in with one clearance, one interception and six successful duels.

There is evidence that he can play in that position, but it isn't something that he'll want to do at his first World Cup.

The Villa defender may not be given a choice as Tuchel will ultimately make the call moving into the final group stage clash with Panama.