Aston Villa: £100k-a-week flop 'should be flourishing' at Villa Park

Aston Villa striker Danny Ings ‘should be flourishing’ playing ahead of so many creative players, according to journalist Dean Jones.

The Midlands outfit have made a disappointing start to the season, and Ings is one of several stars currently below his best as the pressure begins to mount on manager Steven Gerrard.

Villa are currently lingering in down in 16th position after winning just two of their opening nine Premier League games, and Football Insider have claimed Gerrard’s position is under threat as a result.

The Villans’ main issue has been their lack of firepower in the final third of the pitch, with their top-flight goal tally of seven the joint-second lowest in the division.

However, the problem evidently lies with either the players tasked with making chances for the strikers or the system and tactics being deployed by Gerrard rather than the forwards themselves.

And that is shown through the fact that Villa’s expected goals tally of just 7.3 is the second-lowest in the Premier League, illustrating the lack of clear-cut chances being presented to the likes of Ings and Ollie Watkins.

Ings has only found the back of the net on one occasion in the league this season but hasn’t featured from the off since August 28 and will surely be desperate for a chance to showcase his goalscoring prowess.

Jones also believes that Villa ‘cannot work out’ how to carve out ‘enough good chances’ for their strikers, shifting the blame away from Ings.

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In an interview with GiveMeSport, he said: “Danny Ings must be looking at this situation and wondering how it is not going better.

“Villa have so many creative players, he should be flourishing, but the