‘Get him in the team’ - Aston Villa legend demands Tyrone Mings be reinstalled into starting eleven

Aston Villa legend Paul McGrath has urged Steven Gerrard to bring Tyrone Mings back into the starting eleven following his absence from the team against Bournemouth.

Mings, who was stripped of his captaincy in favour of John McGinn prior to the season beginning was then left out of the line-up on the opening day but it didnt have the desired effect as the claret and blue found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline.

The decision to remove the armband from Mings is something that is said to have hurt the defender with Gerrard himself admitting prior to the Cherries match-up that the 29-year-old was still a little raw, emotionally, over the fact.

Until this season, the England international has been a regular starter for Villa and the statistics do show that over the past few seasons, the claret and blue are far better defensively with him in the side.

And former defender and Villa legend McGrath has demanded he be instilled back into the starting frame immediately.

“Tyrone Mings Is good enough for Aston Villa,” he wrote on his Twitter profile. “In my opinion he ticks all the right boxes, so how do you lose the Armband and your place in seconds . You don’t. So who said what to who? No one cares, get him in the team. Respect. UTV.”

When discussing the 29-year-old’s absence following the Bournemouth game, Gerrard explained that his exclusion was partly down to his reaction to being removed as captain.

“It’s a little bit of that,” he said. “He’s also missed some training time with an injury and there’s a niggle in the background as well.”

“When Tyrone is back at his best and looks me in the eye and shows that he’s ready to play, he’ll get opportunities.”