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Kieran Richardson could keep his place at left-back for the crunch clash with Swansea City as boss Tim Sherwood weighs up the balance of experience over potential.

The 31-year-old got the nod ahead of Jordan Amavi, the defender ten years his junior, in the defeat to Chelsea last week and is expected to be named in the starting XI again.

Amavi, a fans' favourite for his attacking intent, was demoted after boss Sherwood carefully scrutinised Aston Villa’s recent displays.

Although he has impressed going forward and is performing well statistically, his decision-making in defence has often left Villa open and exposed, which is why Richardson was called up.

“I have been looking at the games back and as individual performances some of them have been OK for the new players,” said Sherwood.

“But there is always that moment that just costs you a game and that has got to come out.

“It is poor decision-making at the wrong time.

“I’m not just talking about Jordan Amavi, I’m talking about a lot of the guys.

“When you analyse the goals we’ve conceded a lot of them are from individual errors.”

Amavi was an ever-present in the Premier League before the defeat at Stamford Bridge last week and Sherwood is still confident he will go onto become a top performer.

Although the manager favours attack-minded players, he’s chopped and changed his full-backs to help find the right balance with Leandro Bacuna and Alan Hutton both rotated in recent times, too.

While the Frenchman clearly provides more of a threat than Richardson going forward, the general feeling is that the latter offers greater security to the backline.

And at a time when Sherwood is considering playing Carles Gil, Jack Grealish, and/or Jordan Ayew and Adama Traore in attack, the defence needs all the protection it can get,

“I think the defence did a good job last week,” he said.

“I thought the experienced players were good and Kieran deserved his chance to play.

“Jordan has shown that he can be one for the future.

“He can still be a big player for the club and he certainly will be but I thought it was the right decision to bring Kieran in.”

Villa’s other options at left-back are limited with Joe Bennett currently out on loan at Bournemouth.

The 25-year-old had jumped ahead of Richardson as back-up to Amavi before he moved to the south coast to get regular games.

Tyrone Mings and Charlie Daniels had both picked up injuries for the Cherries but Daniels has since recovered leaving Bennett a frustrated figure on the sidelines.