'All over the place' - Gregg Evans slams 'lucky' Aston Villa after one moment v Brighton

Gregg Evans wasn’t impressed with Aston Villa’s defending during the first half of their Premier League clash with Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday. 

With his team going in search of a first win since the trip to Everton on 22 January, Steven Gerrard selected Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Lucas Digne as his back four at the Amex Stadium.

Konsa was restored after missing the defeats against Newcastle United and Watford by virtue of a red card suspension, with Calum Chambers dropping to the substitutes’ bench.

Villa took the lead after 17 minutes through Matty Cash’s effort from outside the area, but BBC Sport journalists Alex Bysouth and Shamoon Hafez noted that it came ‘against the run of play’.

While Ollie Watkins secured the points with a second half strike, it was an incident shortly after the opening goal which drew the scorn of Evans.

The Athletic’s Villa correspondent took to Twitter after the ball fell for Alexis MacAllister 15 yards out and he hit the crossbar, almost drawing the home side level within a few minutes of falling behind.

Evans tweeted: “#BHAFC off the crossbar. MacAllister goes so close to equalising. #AVFC all over the place at the back again. Lucky.”

It’s fair to say that MacAllister did let Villa off the hook. Indeed, the reporter behind Sky Sports’ live blog on the match wrote that the Brighton ace ‘should’ really have scored.

More generally, Gerrard seems to be harbouring doubts over whether his defence is up to scratch. According to Football Insider, the 41-year-old is ready to let go of Konsa, with the manager convinced that the centre-back is sufficiently consistent and reliable.

The same publication reported that Gerrard also has his eyes on a new centre-back in the form of