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Aston Villa would strike gold by offering a new contract to this 31-year-old powerhouse and they must do it soon

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Aston Villa Opinion: Should The Villans offer a new contract to Tommy Elphick?

According to a report in Express & Star, there are a number of star players in the Aston Villa squad whose contracts are set to expire at the end of this season. One of them is centre-back Tommy Elphick, who played for Hull City in the first half of this campaign and returned to Villa Park in January.

However, the 31-year-old has insisted that there is no point dwelling on contractual situations of each player now as they are focused on making a push for a top-six finish to have a shot at the promotion in May (h/t Express & Star).

Aston Villa are currently 10th in the table with 44 points, seven points behind sixth-placed Middlesbrough with 14 games to go. Hence, it is clear that if the team is to qualify for the playoffs, they will have to be near-perfect in the remaining games, starting from this weekend.

Tommy Elphick

While Elphick has talked about making a push and not worrying about the future, he is one of the better defenders in Dean Smith’s team, and the club should offer him a new contract.

The Englishman played for Hull and was the best centre-back there, which is repeated when he returned to ply his trade for Villa.

Looking at some of the stats (average of Hull and Villa), he has won aerial duels at an average of 4.7 per game, epitomising his strength with long balls towards the opposition centre-forwards. He deals with them without fuss.

The 31-year-old has made interceptions at the rate of 1.4, which depicts his ability to read games and intercept key passes towards the forward runners. He has made 5.4 clearances per game on an average and doesn’t mind putting a foot in for a tackle or two. (Whoscored.com)

Image result for elphick contract

All in all, Elphick has had a commanding season at the back be it playing for Hull City or his parent club Aston Villa. At the moment, the Birmingham-based club have two centre-backs in their squad – Elphick and James Chester. The other two – Tyrone Mings and Axel Tuanzebe – are loanees from Bournemouth and Manchester United respectively.

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Conclusion

Hence, it is imperative from the club’s viewpoint that they secure the future of one of their defensive stalwarts. Elphick has done enough this season to warrant a new contract for the next two to three years.