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Chelsea loanee Danny Drinkwater has been told to shape up by Denis Smith, the Aston Villa boss.
The 29 year old joined Villa on loan in January, but has been subbed off in every game he has played for them, lasting an average of 65 minutes on purpose.
That seems to be down to a fitness issue and the lack of football he has played in recent years. A Premier League winner with Leicester, he played just 23 times in all competitions for Chelsea, and went on loan to Burnley during the first part of this season.
However, after being involved at a fight outside a nightclub and picking up a knee injury, he played just twice for The Clarets and returned to Stamford Bridge, only to head out again to Villa Park.
Drinkwater was left off of the team that travelled to Southampton on Saturday, but in his absence, the team performed even worse. Smith said later that some members of his squad had played themselves out of the team to play in the Carabao Cup final next Sunday.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.