Player Watch - Marc Albrighton
Player Watch - Marc Albrighton
Albrighton was a name that didn’t ring any bells for a lot of people when they heard the commentator utter his name during the Aston Villa v. West ham game on Saturday. It seemed the fleet-footed winger had snuck under the radar. However, he hadn’t gone unnoticed by conscientious Aston Villa fans, contrary to the story published in the Daily Mail today. He has been on the fringes of the Villa squad for the past two seasons, having a great pre-season prior to the 09/10 campaign, in which he shone in the Peace Cup and played in the final victory over Juventus. But since then Villa fans haven’t had much chance to see him play in the Premier League.
It’s understandable when Villa have good established wing players such as Stewart Downing and Ashley Young, but a large part of his selection for the starting eleven of the first Premier League game this season is probably a lot to do with the departure of Martin O’Neill. Caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald seems to have a great affinity for the young player having managed him in the reserves, and has already gone on record as saying he would like Albrighton to play all 38 Premier League matches for Villa this season. After a very strong performance against West Ham, few Villa fans would disagree with him.
