Tommy Elphick and Aaron Tshibola move out from Aston Villa

Aston Villa have pretty much confirmed the departure of both Tommy Elphick and Aaron Tshibola via Steve Bruce.

Despite the gulf in form and playing time between the two, it can hardly be considered a surprise that the pair have no part to play in Aston Villa’s promotion campaign.

The pair will be heading out for the rest of the season on-loan to two separate clubs. Aaron Tshibola will be linking up with his guardian angel, Steve Clarke at Kilmarnock in Scotland, while Elphick will be joining Reading to ensure they don’t get dragged into a relegation quagmire at the bottom of the Championship, where seemingly anything can happen.

A minor flaw in Aston Villa’s current depth level in terms of personnel is that there are certain people, on decent money, who won’t get the playing minutes that they either deserve, or feel that they deserve. Elphick has been pushed out of the role by the (now) incredible talent at centre-half, despite showing some real quality when called upon. Tshibola on the other hand showed some ability during his time in a Villa shirt, but couldn’t replicate it enough. He also lost his head during a spell at MK Dons and will really need to kick on at Kilmarnock.

Axel Tuanzebe remains the only senior signing for Villa, while Ross McCormack seems on standby to leave the club (despite the fact he can’t play again until June due to FIFA rules if he signs for a club that isn’t Melbourne City).