Villa defender on loan is a good sign for club's injury crisis

In the midst of a defensive injury crisis, 20-year-old left back Lewis Kinsella has found himself on the fringes of Aston Villa's first team in the past few weeks. With Aly Cissokho and Kieran Ricahrdson battling knocks and Matthew Lowton and Alan Hutton filling in at left back, Kinsella has moved from academy player to an unused substitute in the club's last four matches.

Now he may be headed down to League Two on a loan. Kinsella tweeted (and later deleted) a note saying that he was "Delighted to have signed for @LutonTown for the rest of the season." The Birmingham Mail caught the tweet and wrote up the first story I saw on it. The deletion of the tweet probably has more to do with the clubs involved wanting to make things official than it does with Kinsella being wrong. That's pretty strong wording for something he isn't sure about.

Practically, this should impact Villa too much right now. Kinsella has yet to appear in a match, but he has been the last line of defense (sorry) against the injury problem. If Tim Sherwood is willing to let him go, it's a sign that Cissokho or Richardson are nearing a return to health. While it has seemed that Aston Villa are really thin in defense lately, we have to remember that with even a small return to health there is plenty of cover. At left back, we've got the injured duo as well as Hutton and Lowton. At right back, Hutton is a natural, Bacuna can fill in, and Lowton is also a decent choice.

With a few players returning, there is almost no chance that Kinsella sees first-team time, so he might as well go out on loan. Hopefully he gets some regular time with the Hatters, who currently sit in 6th in League Two and will be challenging for promotion. Good luck, Lewis! Make yourself a folk hero to thousands!