Aston Villa's 22 Man Squad

Not that Kevin MacDonald had much of a headache in selecting our maximum 25 man squad, he's even left 3 places open!

Along with the new Financial Regulations that have had most fans talking over the summer - especially with our hiccups over trimming the wage bill - new Premier League rules for a 25 man squad have also been on the tips of fans' tongues, and have carried their own news making ramifications - Craig Bellamy to Cardiff anyone?

Anyhoo all Premiership Clubs have (as of the time of writing) another 10 minutes to submit their final 25 squad, and changes can only occur generally come January and the opening of the next transfer window.

For Villa new signing Stephen Ireland has obviously made his way in, Moustapha Salifou, Eric Lichaj, Jonathan Hogg and Isaiah Osbourne are also named as surprised entries, with if nothing else shows whoever our new manager might be come January, as we all know, we need a fair bit of strengthening.

The full 22 man squad is as follows:

Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan.

James Collins, Carlos Cuellar, Curtis Davies, Habib Beye, Richard Dunne, Eric Lichaj, Stephen Warnock, Luke Young

Stewart Downing, Jonathan Hogg, Stephen Ireland, Isaiah Osbourne, Stiliyan Petrov, Nigel Reo-Coker, Moustapha Salifou, Steve Sidwell

Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, John Carew, Emile Heskey

Now obviously players under 21 do not have to be named, and can be called upon for fixtures so fans shouldn't worry that the likes of Albrighton, Bannan, Delfouneso, Clark, Delph and Weimann haven't been named. The same applies for a third choice keeper, Parish and Siegrist can be easily called up if circumstances dictate.

They can happily play if selected and once a couple are back from injury.

Now the 3 open spots are curious because I believe (and I could be wrong so point out if I cam please) open slots can be used for loan deals, or at the very least emergency loan deals.

So depending on which side of the conspiracy hat you want to wear today, we are 3 short because we didn't have enough players to name or we are looking at a few loans before January.

Vital Villa on:

Vital Villa on:

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