Aston Villa 2016-17 player previews: Jordan Lyden

Ah yes, the forgotten Jordan. Lost in the hullabaloo over Jordans Ayew, Amavi, and Veretout last summer, Jordan Lyden is quietly making a place for himself in Aston Villa. The 20-year-old Aussie made three league appearances with the senior squad in 2015-16 and helped to lead the U21 team to one of its best finishes in a few years.

The question for him in 2016-17 is where he slots in and how he gets some regular playing time. He’s best suited as a midfielder, but he can play a competent right back as well. And with Leandro Bacuna and Alan Hutton doing nothing to make that position their own, we might see Lyden tried out a few times.

But really, I hope he isn’t. We saw what constantly moving around did to Leandro Bacuna who is now a shell of his former potential. Let’s not do the same to Lyden. Let him stay in the midfield and let him develop slowly. He’s not going to make or break promotion this year, but he might be the backbone of this club in the future. Let’s not screw it up.